House Plan Proposes to Move Primary to June, Eliminate Runoff Elections

For most of the 1990s and 2000s, Davidson County fell into the 6th and 12th districts. The part of Pender County that Jones has represented is transferred to the 7th District, now represented by David Rouzer.

There is no requirement that a congressional representative must physically live in the district they are representing, but from a political perspective, the lack of residency may play to an opponent’s advantage, particularly one who does reside in the new district. Twelve Republicans voted “aye”, five Democrats voted “nay”.

Bitzer says her district will likely remain a Democrat stronghold, but living 90 miles away could prove a disadvantage for Adams. The proposed map and voter statistics can be found on North Carolina Legislature’s website, ncleg.net.

They rolled those out late Wednesday afternoon and then met Thursday in a special session to consider them. The legislature is also expected to set a new date for U.S. House primaries while primaries for other seats go ahead March 15.

State Rep. Rodney Moore, a Charlotte Democrat, said he may be interested in running in the 12th District but would wait to see whether the districts are adopted by the legislature and approved by the three-judge panel. “I am concerned that in the absence of a stay, the voting for congressional representatives could be disrupted”.

The boundaries were redrawn in response to a federal court ruling earlier this month that the current 1st and 12th Districts were illegally race-based.

He said the new map includes fewer split counties and voting precincts than before.

For Democrat Alma Adams, the changes to her 12th district would be drastic. The proposal would keep the delegation’s 10-3 Republican majority.

The provision could benefit any legislators who want to run in the new 12 District (Mecklenburg County) or the new 13 District (Greensboro to Statesville), where the current incumbent doesn’t live in the district.

Statewide, the most significant changes in the proposed plan include a 4th District containing the homes of its current congressman, Democratic U.S. Rep. David Price, but also Republican U.S. Rep. George Holding.

“All of the criteria that was used to draw these maps was geared toward partisanship, ” Smith said.

Former state Sen. Malcolm Graham of Charlotte exchanged text messages with a fellow Democrat, Sen.

Pierce said that today will be the first time he will have the opportunity to listen to both sides argue their case.

“A lot of folks are struggling and I want to be there to represent their needs and to represent their interests to the best of my ability”, he said in a Thursday telephone interview.

Leaders of the redistricting committee say race was not a factor in drawing the new map.

Democratic state Sen. Ben Clark of Hoke and Cumberland counties had one of the “no” votes.

State Republican lawmakers rolled out a map Wednesday that pulls the three counties – along with Robeson – out of Hudson’s 8th District and places them in the 9th District, represented by Pittenger, a Charlotte Republican.

Rep. Virginia Foxx’s 5th District adds Avery, Surry and Stokes counties, while losing parts of Davie, Iredell, Davidson and Rowan counties.

Butterfield continued saying it was inconsistent with the law to “eliminate a voting rights district that the court has previously held to be constitutional prior to the 2011 congressional redistricting”. They will have to make sure that people are in the right district and all of that takes time. New numbers out by the Democratic Raleigh pollster Public Policy Polling shows 59 percent of North Carolina voters in favor of redistricting reform and only 9 percent opposing it.

The 13th District, which covers parts of seven counties near Wake and Edgecombe, would be moved to the western part of the state.

Biltmore Forest would move from the 10th District to the 11th and a few areas east of Hendersonville Road that are now in Meadows’ 11th District would become part of McHenry’s 10th. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, one of the leaders of the redistricting committee told the Associated Press. The House approved moving the congressional primary date to June 7.