100 300 Words from Jeff
We had some big news last week, so I need a few more words than usual.
A federal court ordered the state legislature to redraw 28 of its districts, finding that they were racially gerrymandered.
What is "racial gerrymandering?" Easy: Take a look at the picture below and guess where the African Americans live.
In reality, this means we have to redraw most of the map for both the state House and Senate.
The Court also ruled that, because the current General Assembly was elected using an unconstitutional map, we will have a special election in 2017 to remedy the situation as quickly as possible.
We have two-year terms and were all just elected last month, so this is unusual, but not impossible. The new maps are due March 15th, filing for office will occur soon thereafter, primaries will be in August/September, and the general election will be in November. (Then we all start running for the next election in 2018...)
Yes, the same group that drew the old map will draw the new one. And yes, they are going to try to minimally comply with the court order to preserve their seats.
But this is still good for the state. Right now, 90% of us are virtually invulnerable in a general election. This should increase the number of competitive elections, and that's good.
Ultimately, of course, we need to pass independent redistricting. It was the first bill I ever filed and I'll file it again as soon as we're back in session. Both parties have played this game and the only way to stop it is to take the map-drawing pen out of the hands of the politicians.
Time to gear up for 2017. I'm running, and I hope you're with me.
Best,
Special Session on Dec. 13th
Gov. McCrory has called for a special session to address the state's response to Hurricane Matthew. There is some concern that the session will also veer into other matters, and I have written about that here.
As Always
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