RALEIGH – Failing something like divine intervention, North Carolina’s legislative maps have cleared their last hurdle with the approval of Superior Court Judge Knox Jenkins’ interim districts by the U.S. Justice Department on Friday. That sets up the likelihood of a late August or early September primary, no runoff primary, and a general election in November that promises to be among the most competitive in state history.

It’s been a while since I wrote about the new maps, so I thought it would be useful to go back and summarize where the key races are around North Carolina that will determine control of the N.C. House and Senate.

On the House side, I consider 47 seats to be safely or moderately Democratic and 52 seats to be safely or moderately Republican. The remaining 21 districts are very competitive. Other analysts differ somewhat with my analysis, giving Democrats 52 safe or moderately safe seats and rating somewhat fewer districts as swings. Basically, though, we’re in the same ballpark.

Here are how I grouped the swing districts:

* The Down East Half-Dozen. These include three with Democratic incumbents likely to run again: Marian McLawhorn in the 9th (Pitt County), Russell Tucker in the 10th (Duplin and Lenoir), and Phil Baddour in the 11th (Wayne). Nash Republican Gene Arnold is retiring in the 25th. And there are two new coastal districts, the 14th (Onslow) and the 16th (Pender and New Hanover).
* The Western Wake-Up. Wake County. Incumbent Republican Art Pope isn’t running again in the 34th, while incumbent Democrat Jennifer Weiss will likely run again in the 35th.
* The Battle for Fayetteville. There are four swing seats in the area: the 44th, where Democrat Bill Hurley is retiring, and the 45th, where Democrat Alex Warner is not. To the north, Republican Mia Morris will run again in the 41st District and Republican Don Davis, just over the line in Harnett, is retiring.
* The Piedmont Triad. Three seats with Democratic incumbents along the I-85 corridor are in play: the 59th in Greensboro (Maggie Jeffus), the 77th in Rowan County (Lorene Coates), and the 81st in Davidson (Hugh Holliman).
* The Metrolina Fringe. Two Charlotte-area seats are competitive: Mecklenburg’s 99th, where incumbent Democrat Drew Saunders will likely run again, and the open 109th District stretching northwest from Gastonia to the Lincoln and Cleveland county lines.
* The Mountain Climb. Here are the last four swing seats, three with incumbents running again: Democrat Walter Church in the 86th (Burke), Republican Mark Crawford in the 115th (southeastern Buncombe County), and Republican Maggie Carpenter in the 118th (Yancey, Madison, and part of Haywood counties). Finally, a new 112th District, including Rutherford and a part of Cleveland, is an open seat.

Over in the N.C. Senate, there are six toss-up districts, along with 21 safe or moderately Democratic seats and 23 safe or moderately Republican. Here’s a quick overview:

* The Coastal Couple. These include District 2, now represented by Democrat Scott Thomas and encompassing Craven, Pamlico, and Carteret counties; and District 6, encompassing Onslow and Jones counties. The latter district includes the home of incumbent Democrat Kever Clark, who was just appointed to serve out the term of the late Luther Jordan.
* The Western Wake Buffer. Democratic Sen. Eric Reeves will defend the 16th District, probably against Republican and software entrepreneur Richard Holcomb.
* The Piedmont Pair. Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan in the 27th District (Greensboro) and Republican Sen. Hugh Webster in the 24th (Alamance and Caswell counties) can claim the most competitive seats in the Piedmont Triad area.
* The Bulk of Bunk. The 49th District in the northern and southeastern portions of Buncombe County is now represented by Democrat Steve Metcalf.

There you have it. These 27 legislative races will be the ones to watch this fall. I’m not saying that other districts are completely off the table; there are dozens of “moderately” Democratic or Republican seats that might flip if the right combination develops of campaign acumen, issues, and voter ire.

Oh, what an egregious Republican gerrymander!