RALEIGH – North Carolina has three congressional districts where on a very good day – but only on such a day – an upstart might be able to take out a favored incumbent. Democrat Bobby Etheridge holds one of the seats, Eastern North Carolina’s 2nd. Republican Charles Taylor holds another, Western North Carolina’s 11th. And the third, the 13th district stretching from Raleigh to Greensboro in North Central NC, is new but leans Democratic.

Unfortunately, last year’s political gerrymander has yielded only one congressional seat that is truly competitive on any given day. That’s the 8th District currently represented by Republican Robin Hayes of Cabarrus County. Its new design took out some reliably Republican voters, tossed in some Democratic-leaning neighborhoods, and retained the sprawling nature of the district that stretches from the outskirts of Charlotte to the outskirts of Fort Bragg.

Not surprisingly, making the district friendlier to Democrats resulted in a crowded primary. But over the weekend, the field shrunk by one as former Republican legislator and Superior Court Judge Ray Warren dropped out of the race, citing a lack of funds. That leaves former State Rep. Billy Richardson of Fayetteville and Charlotte attorney Chris Kouri as the leading candidates for the Democratic nod.

Warren has a complicated political history. For years, I knew him as a stalwart conservative activist and frequent judicial candidate. In 1998, already a sitting judge, he was almost elected to the N.C. Supreme Court. Shortly after his narrow loss, he announced that he was gay. Some months later, stung by what he portrayed to be a virulent reaction from fellow Republicans to his sexual orientation, Warren switched parties.

I haven’t spoken to Warren in years; indeed, my only involvement in his post-1998 political career was when I told a newspaper reporter that I thought he would continue to be evaluated by voters on the basis of his legal philosophy and judicial decisions rather than by his personal behavior. For that semi-defense of him, I received more hate mail than I ever have in 13 years of public commentary, much of it mindless, some of it obscene.

I was heartened to hear that Warren, in announcing the end of his Senate candidacy, remarked that he didn’t blame his lack of support on his lifestyle, or even his status as a political and ideological turncoat (he is now unabashedly liberal on many issues). Instead, he blamed it on his hailing from Charlotte.

Some forms of bigotry seem destined to die hard.