#ncga: Reading the redistricting tea leaves
Will you keep your “honorable,” or get yourself a “new” one?
Court-mandated redistricting has placed this question on many a mind inside and outside Raleigh. Here’s one interesting driveby take on the matter. Here are the maps –complete with county groupings — being used to mull over new House and Senate districts.
From what I am understanding, the new districts have to be drawn within the constraints of these “groupings.”
A few observations:
- Moore County is lumped into a group that includes Anson, Richmond and Scotland counties to the south on the Senate map. Since incumbent Jerry Tillman, who represents Moore now, is in Randolph county, that would mean Moore County would be in for a change. Most likely earning new representation from senator Tom McInnis (R-Richmond). There has also been some speculation that Moore County could be grouped with Lee County. That would create a strong Republican district with no incumbent.
- On the House side, Mike Speciale (R-Craven) finds himself all alone in one grouping that COULD result in another new GOP-leaning district.
- Watch out, Larry. The grouping that includes conservative stalwart Larry Pittman’s home county includes SEVEN incumbents but has room for only SIX districts. ONE person has to go.
- Also in the House — Bob Steinburg and Susan Martin are both viewed as extremely endangered, thanks to the realities of changing demographics and the constraints put in place by this latest round of redistricting.
- Phil AND … In the state’s upper northwest, there is an eight county grouping that includes three incumbent GOP senators: Phil Berger, Deanna Ballard, and Shirley Randleman. There’s only room for TWO senators in this grouping. Somebody has to go. (And it won’t likely be Phil … )
Bill Cook’s district in the Senate is mangled, with his home county placed with a bunch of Democrat counties, and neither district that contains counties from his current district friendly to a Republican. The new district with Cook’s home county is also long, narrow, and clearly gerrymandered. Who has it in for Bill Cook or for Republicans in the northeast. It splits communities of interest to screw Republicans and particularly Senator Cook.
Who drew this screwball map?
This map is Bill Cooks retirement. Apparently he has pissed someone off. Or perhaps the “Junior Senator” in his office did. Who knows what caused this but it certainly does not bode well for Cook.
Bill Cook is a conservative who is being persecuted in redistricting for being a conservative. This is the second time it has happened to him. He and Glen Bradley were targeted in the last House redistricting by Thom Tillis and David Lewis and drawn into unfavorable districts, whereupon both ran for the Senate instead, Bradley lost his primary to an opponent recruited by the House leadership. Cook defeated a leadership recruited primary challenger, then beat the Democrat incumbent in the General election.
It looks like it will be “screw the conservatives” in redistricting, and that means conservatives will need to play “screw the establishment” in both the primaries and general election unless this anti-conservative gerrymandering is reversed. It looks like the establishment is declaring war on conservatives in redistricting and if that pans out, we will need to give them no quarter in 2018, and adopt a scorched earth take no prisoners response. If liberal Republicans screw us on redistricting just like liberal Democrats, then what the hell is the difference?
In looking at the Senate redistrcting committee, I can see one member who would have an ax to grind with Bill Cook. Cook has been a stalwart against the Big Solar and Big Wind special interests and has introduced legislation to protect our citizens from their hanky-panky. Looking at the committee members, there is one major hatchet man for Big Solar (and probably Big Wind, too) and that is Brent Jackson. Is Bill Cook being crucified because he stood up for Republican principles and the Republican platform and against Obama-oriented special interests? If that is happening, then there is something very rotten in the state of the Senate GOP caucus. Of course, Phil Berger would have had to sign off on this gerrymander, but in the last session, Berger showed he was in the hip pocket of Big Solar, too.
What they have done is put Cook in a heavily Democrat district and double-bunked him with a very liberal and very partisan Democrat Senator. It is even worse than the purge of Glen Bradley in the House last time. While Bradley was put in a heavily Democrat district, at least he was not double bunked with a Democrat incumbent.
There is another group that could be behind this attempted elimination of Senator Cook and that is the radical environmentalists of the CCA. The CCA is trying to put the commercial fishermen out of business and Cook has been one of the top champions of the commercial fishermen in the Senate. I am not on top of who the CCA Republicans are in the Senate, but I wonder if any of them are on the redistricting committee?
It would be a travesty for Bill Cook to get redistricted out because of his standing up for his small business constituents against a powerful left wing environmental group. That is especially true when this gerrymander throws away a GOP district, with no compensating district created, in order to do so. This just stinks.
You asked the question Paul, and I think these are the possible answers. Cook has pissed off Big Wind / Big Solar and he has pissed off the CCA. Those are liberal groups and Cook is standing for conservative principle. But these are liberal groups that have managed to infiltrate the GOP.
With RINOs in control of Washington and Raleigh, it will be a miracle if the GOP can keep its majority in either location.
I’m told these were drawn By Common Cause….
what is going on???
Common Cause is a far left group, If our Senate leadership has outsourced redistricting to the far left, they have lost their flippin’ minds.
What was done in the northeast leaves you scratching your head and wondering if there is a Democrat mole in there drawing these lines. They took the guts of two present Senate districts, one competitive and marginally Republican and the other heavily Democrat and reconfigured them into two Democrat districts. This is just nuts. Or does someone on the committee have it in against the east?
Who’s on first?
Thanks for your concern about me. The establishment never wanted me there in the first place. An attempt to take me out through redistricting would be no surprise. I guess they just can’t tolerate the idea that citizens’ rights, States’ rights and our State and federal Constitutions are more important than the special interests and corporate welfare. If they do manage to take me out this time, at least I will have been there to fight for our people for three and a half terms. Who would ever have thought I would have ever been there at all? But I’m not going down without a fight.
If we can’t have THIS Larry, I’m in favor of having No Larry in the House, especially the RINO Larry on the redistricting committee.
Is there ever going to come a time when we the people rise up and show those pulling such shenanigans we are not going to stand for this anymore? Berger can fix this, but unfortunately, he has little motivation to do so.
Bill Cook was not the first conservative to be squeezed in this round of redistricting. Senator Andrew Brock was the first, but at least he was given a consolation prize. Who knows what is ahead when they start drawing internal lines in those multi-seat multi-county blocks, particularly in the House, where there are more of them. It may not be pretty for conservatives.
This is a Democratic map.