Oh, look. A congressional redistricting map.
It’s that time again. We’ll soon find out which charlatan we’ll see on our ballots next November. State Senator Warren Daniel (R) from out west has released a proposed map:
*** Click on the link above (“proposed map”) to see a larger, easier to read version. Here’s a version of the state map with better county labels.
One thing I notice is that incumbent Greg Murphy (R) has his home county drawn out of his district. It’s now in Democrat G.K. Butterfield’s 1st.
Another thing I notice is that the new 14th district is drawn to include Cleveland County — home, most notably, to Lord God King Speaker-Almighty Timmy.
It’s an unusual place to drop a new district. Much of the new population growth has occurred in the Triangle, The Sandhills and the southeastern coastal counties. Perhaps Sen. Daniel is doing a solid for his little buddy, the speaker. Who knew that Timmy had visions of going to DC to sit in Kevin McCarthy’s lap akin to the way Peanut does for Jeff Dunham?
I spoke with a Raleigh insider to get some further insight on this map. Here is what they pointed out:
- The new 13th includes Johnston County. That could prove tempting for George Holding. The new district is Republican and includes the Holding family stronghold of Johnston.
- The new 9th makes things easier for Dan Bishop: He gets rid of Robeson and Bladen and gains, basically, Senator Tom McInnis’s district. Moore County would be completely inside the new 9th.
- Creating that new 14th district requires a radical redrawing of the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th.
- Richard Hudson’s redrawn 8th pushes him back closer to his metro Charlotte home territory.
This is just the first map to come out. So, don’t get too excited — even though it comes from one of the three most influential legislators in the map-making process.
The new 14th might also be tempting to Michael Whatley who has Washington, DC ambitions. In a primary between him and Tim Moore, I don’t know which would be the lesser of the evils. Hopefully a conservative of substance would get into the race.
Drawing an incumbent like Murphy into the 1st while making it more Republican would be a smart move for the GOP to pick up a seat. Incumbency would give Murphy the stature and fundraising ability to take out the Democrats in that district. Of course, a Congressman is not required to live in the district he runs in, so Murphy might still run in the 3rd. Also, I cannot tell from the map if they left part of Pitt County, where Murphy lives, in the 3rd.
Compare the county map with the really bad redistricting version. It appears Pitt is completely in the 1st.
Michael Whatley is in line for RNC Chair. However, if he thinks he can get to Congress, he’s on it. He has also floated the idea of running for governor. (I kid you not.) He needs to be set free from the NCGOP to pursue his dreams. Then someone needs to be brought in to clean up the place before the left finds out what goes on inside those walls.
Whatley and Congressman Murphy were together in Greenville yesterday, hosting an economic small biz roundtable at Parker’s BBQ.
The map I see here has NONE of Greg Murphy’s Pitt County in CD1, Pitt county is divided between CD3 and CD13. What IS NEW is that G.K. Butterfield and his Wilson county are no longer in CD1 but in the new CD13.
Don’t bite on an obvious troll job. None of the supposed districts were even remotely valid. As anyone who has followed the process knows, they have to produce a map down to the single person variance allowed. This map looks more like doodling than anything worthy of discussion.