On Monday, the state Senate Redistricting and Elections Committee passed S.B. 757, which could become the lines for North Carolina’s fourteen U.S. Congressional districts.
The first map discussed, S.B. 757, was amended slightly and then passed. The other version of the Congressional map was not passed out of committee, indicating that S.B. 757 will likely be the version sent over to the House for approval.
The Carolina Journal projected that S.B. 757 would be closer to the final Congressional map version and discussed where the current congressional delegation members will go and who will be drawn out on last week’s episode of The Debrief.
The state Senate map was the main topic of discussion during the committee.
Sen. Mike Woodard, D-Durham, proposed an amendment to alter the lines in Durham. His amendment passed unanimously. Sen. Michael Garrett, D-Guilford, also proposed an amendment which swapped several precincts between Senate districts 27 and 28, two heavily Democratic districts. Republicans allowed Garrett’s amendment and passed it.
Senate Republicans paused the committee for 30 minutes for Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed, D-Mecklenburg, to be able to propose his amendment. The committee passed Mohammed’s amendment.
Ultimately, the Senate passed the Senate maps by voice votes, with most Democrats appearing to object.
The John Locke Foundation recently released its annual Civitas Partisan Index scores for the legislative maps, which found there to be 28 Republican-leaning seats, 17 Democrat-leaning seats, and five toss-ups in the state Senate map.
Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, D-Wake, requested that a letter from the Southern Coalition for Social Justice be added to the record. The letter asked to make sure the maps do not violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a common line of argument in North Carolina redistricting cases.
Blue said that the six precincts moved out of New Hanover into Senate District 8, which is composed of Columbus and Brunswick counties.
Blue also accused Republicans of sexism for double-bunking female members of the legislature. Sen. Lisa Grafstein, D-Wake, is double-bunked with Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake. Sen. Natasha Marcus, D-Mecklenburg, was also double-bunked with a Republican woman, Vickie Sawyer, R-Iredell.