A three-judge panel unanimously upheld North Carolina’s new congressional districts, just in time for 2020 candidates to start filing. The judges’ ruling Monday, Dec. 2, in Harper v. Lewis still left several conflicts unresolved. Attorneys disagreed about whether the General Assembly’s new maps were duly competitive or gave Democrats a fair number of seats. Filing...
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comments from Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett. Anyone hoping to run for a congressional seat in North Carolina is now left waiting — indefinitely — for candidate filing to open. A Superior Court order Thursday, Nov. 21, officially stalled the filing period, which would’ve opened Dec. 2. The...
UPDATED, 8:00 p.m., to add link to court order. In the middle of North Carolina’s uncertain scuffle over congressional redistricting, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen during the 2020 primaries. But one thing is for sure, say political scientists. Incumbents probably won’t suffer if candidate filing is stalled by the ongoing congressional redistricting case, Harper...
N.C. lawmakers so far have spent two days huddled around computers in a garishly lit legislative committee room, working to fit the puzzle pieces in what will become newly redrawn congressional districts. An 18-member Joint Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting began laying out criteria for maps Tuesday, Nov. 5. Thursday, legislators were still hunched over...
N.C. lawmakers are once again haggling over how to begin drawing new voter maps. This time, North Carolina’s congressional districts are at stake. On Tuesday, Nov. 5, legislators met in a special Joint Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting, the result of an ongoing congressional redistricting lawsuit, Harper v. Lewis. Last month, a panel of three...
The 2019 legislative session won’t end until 2020. The N.C. House and Senate are adjourning Thursday, Oct. 31, and will return Nov. 13 to consider redistricting matters and possibly tie up a few loose ends, per a joint resolution. After that, they’ll return Jan. 14 to attend to the rest of the session’s unfinished business. ...
Don’t retire the lottery machines just yet. Experts say the General Assembly may soon enter another round of map redraws. The speculation stems from an Oct. 28 court injunction, in which a three-judge panel in Harper v. Lewis ordered no preparations be made for the 2020 congressional elections based on 2016 maps. The fact the...
A panel of Superior Court judges have approved North Carolina’s newly redrawn legislative district voting maps, but lawmakers are headed back to the drawing board to create different maps for congressional races. Superior Court Judges Paul Ridgeway, Alma Hinton, and Joseph Crosswhite ruled Monday, Oct. 28, in favor of a preliminary injunction in the case...
Go ahead and try to “Sue ‘til you’re blue.” That’s what leading Republicans said to the Democrats going to court over partisan gerrymanders in North Carolina’s 13 congressional districts. Harper v. Lewis was filed Friday, Sept. 27, in state court by registered Democratic and unaffiliated voters. The suit closely follows Common Cause v. Lewis, a...
