Rowan districts still Republican-favored as new maps head back to the court

Published 12:00 am Friday, September 20, 2019

SALISBURY — On Tuesday, both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly signed off on the Senate and House district maps. Now, they’re waiting to hear back from the N.C. courts.

Earlier this month, state courts called out the local county group House district of Davie, Rowan, Cabarrus, Stanly, Montgomery, and Richmond when saying that legislative maps were partisan gerrymanders. That ruling affected districts held by Reps. Harry Warren, R-76, Larry Pittman, R-83, and Julia Howard, R-77. At present, all three represent parts of Rowan.

And only Pittman’s 83rd District, if he chooses to run for re-election, would would not include a part of Rowan.

Seven Senate districts were redrawn, too. Republican Sen. Carl Ford’s 33rd District was not altered. Ford noted the district holds two complete counties, Rowan and Stanly, an arrangement the judges liked.

Michael Bitzer, a Catawba College professor and politics department chairman, looked at the new proposed districts to figure how the maps may “politically behave.” Legislators were not allowed to look at precinct breakdowns when drawing the maps, but that’s not the case for political analysts.

Bitzer concluded in a blog post on his website Old North State Politics that District 76, in which Warren would still live, would lean Republican with a 58.50% predicted GOP vote share. District 83, now confined to Cabarrus County, would also lean Republican with a 58.20% predicted Republican vote share. District 77 and District 67, a new extension into Rowan, are likely Republican, with a 76.40% predicted Republican vote share.

Bitzer said what this means for the 2020 election is unknown because no two elections are the same.

Ford and Warren were asked to help draw the district maps as members of the redistricting committees.

Warren refrained from saying his thoughts of the newly drawn maps as legislators wait for feedback from the courts.

“It’s up to the courts now,” Warren said.

After the passage of the maps, he said representatives went back to cleaning up bills to get their approval.

The House district map passed mostly on party lines, 60-52, last Friday in the House and passed in the Senate, 24-21, on Tuesday. The Senate map passed out of their chamber Monday with a 38-9 vote and in the House on Tuesday, 62-52. Ford, Warren and Howard voted in favor of both maps with Pittman going against his party to vote no.

Bitzer said the split party vote “continues to show a deep partisanship.” He added the drawing of the district lines is a partisan act.

Pittman previously said he voted against the maps because he believes it’s unconstitutional that the courts ordering the redrawing of the districts outside of a census year.

“It is still unconstitutional for the courts ever to do this in North Carolina,” Pittman said. “Allowing an unconstitutional act to be repeated is unconscionable to me, no matter which party initiates that action.”

Ford also questioned the constitutionality of the redrawing of the maps ahead of the new census reports. He said they used census data from 2010, which doesn’t show the represent the growth in certain areas such as Cabarrus County.

Bitzer said the court’s duty and role is to decide what the constitution means. The state court’s ruling signified the the idea of checks and balances in the three branches is “alive and well.”

It’s now a wait-and-see game for legislators. Ford said it isn’t likely the maps would return to the committee for redrawing. The courts will look to the help of an outside expert. If courts don’t approve them, they will redraw all or part of the districts.

Bitzer said it’s now “limbo land.”

“I wouldn’t hazard a guess,” he said about a prediction of how the courts will rule on the maps. Bitzer said his ultimate question is  the court’s standard of how partisan map drawing can be.

Meanwhile, Rowan County Elections Director Brenda McCubbins said she doesn’t quite know the impact new maps will have on filing for the March primary election.

“For candidates to file in their correct district for the March Primary Election, redrawing of the lines would need to be complete and updated in our data by the first day of filing, Dec. 2 at 12 noon,” she said.

There has been no set deadline for the courts to OK the maps by or draw the maps themselves. Legal briefs objecting the map are due by Sept. 27 and responses to the objection is Oct. 4.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.