A state court decision delivered a blow to Republicans Monday after it blocked using present congressional district lines in North Carolina for the 2020 election, which could result in current red districts to turn purple.
The ruling by three judges, one Republican and two Democrats, said the maps drawn in 2016 represented “extreme partisan gerrymandering” and that it went against the state’s law of “free elections.” As a result, the court banned North Carolina from holding primary elections, scheduled for March 3, under the currently drawn congressional lines.
The plaintiff’s case was brought before the court by a Democratic group, spearheaded by former Attorney General Eric Holder, hoping to defeat Republican control of the redistricting process in 2021.
North Carolina Republican Rep. Richard Hudson told the Washington Examiner he is concerned constituents will be left without knowing who is representing them in the lower chamber.
“It’s disappointing for the people of the state because I believe those maps were fair and, if you look at them, they’re very contiguous … I felt like there were fair maps,” he said. “But the state court gets to decide that question. I don’t. But it’s just frustrating for people.”
He continued, “They don’t know who to turn to for assistance. The city of Fayetteville has had seven different members of Congress since 2010. And so, they don’t know what people live there. They don’t know what district they’re in, they don’t know who their congressman is. They don’t know how to get help when they need it.”
“It’s in somebody else’s hands. The state legislature draws those maps. This will be the third district that I have run in my four terms. We’re grateful for the opportunity. We’ll just see what it looks like,” North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Walker told the Washington Examiner.
Democrats argue state Republican lawmakers have drawn the congressional maps in their favor since taking control of the legislature in 2010 following the last census. However, Republicans say their party won their seats when Democrats held the legislature and the map was not in their favor.
The current North Carolina House map, drawn by Republican state legislators in 2016, was challenged at the Supreme Court, which decided in a 5-4 opinion in June it was not in the court’s jurisdiction to regulate partisan gerrymandering.
Thirteen members comprise the state’s House delegation, 10 Republicans and three Democrats, and the redrawing of new districts could target North Carolina Republican Reps. Mark Meadows or Patrick McHenry, whose districts both expand into the city of Asheville where voters lean more liberal.
