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You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / Don't Mourn, Organize / #BFD in North Carolina

#BFD in North Carolina

by David Anderson|  November 30, 20165:56 am| 34 Comments

This post is in: Don't Mourn, Organize, Election 2017

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North Carolina General Assembly districts (House & Senate). Order says redraw districts by 3/15/17 https://t.co/XtXOExUqSp

— Don Taylor (@donaldhtaylorjr) November 30, 2016

Right now the North Carolina legislature is amazingly heavily gerrymandered for Republicans. The federal courts have found that the North Carolina state government has used basically every trick in the book to disenfranchise African American political power. This is a big deal as North Carolina is a swingable state where the local Democrats are competetive as seen in the 2016 state wide wins for the Governorship and the balance of power State Supreme Court justice races. If the districts are not lopsided and illegal racial gerrymanders normal checks and balances might actually work in the state.

If we as a community are going to adopt a district or two, this might be a high leverage opportunity to get some wins.

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34Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    November 30, 2016 at 6:05 am

    It is a big deal. Continue the fight

  2. 2.

    David Fud

    November 30, 2016 at 6:14 am

    Excellent news. Similarly, the Georgia Senate has one last race, which will determine in the next two weeks whether the Republicans maintain a super-majority. Any help for Peppers could prevent a lot of bad legislation in GA. Doesn’t have to be money, either. Calling, or even a few canvassers could tip this race where there are 5 republicans against one Democrat. Even a two year hold could keep us from tipping over the edge while Cobb and other counties turn blue (Clinton won Cobb).

  3. 3.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    November 30, 2016 at 6:24 am

    State Board of Elections in NC is meeting this afternoon about an appeal over the dismissal of McCrory’s protests in Durham County. Durham had equipment problems on Election Day. We’re getting closer to having this finished off except for the Civitas lawsuit over same day registration.

  4. 4.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    November 30, 2016 at 6:34 am

    Moral Monday is asking for donations for the first time.

  5. 5.

    slappy kincaid

    November 30, 2016 at 7:05 am

    Do not underestimate the lengths that the R majority will go to around here to hold onto power. They have gone so far as to defy Court orders and concoct court-packing schemes that they may still try to force through the legislature in the middle of the night.

    McCrory is a petulant little shit, but he’s nothing compared to the racist nutters and machiavellian plotters in the legislature.

  6. 6.

    liberal

    November 30, 2016 at 7:22 am

    @slappy kincaid: if they succeed in stealing the governor’s race, a call should go out for a complete boycott of the state, one that makes the more recent action look like child’s play.

  7. 7.

    Mike E

    November 30, 2016 at 7:44 am

    @slappy kincaid: We are awaiting inauguration day with baited breath…this court order is a bfd indeed.

    @liberal: “They” have succeeded in a lot of terrible ways already, so it’s time for the good people everywhere to rally behind this important fight to reclaim this purple state

  8. 8.

    liberal

    November 30, 2016 at 7:55 am

    Slightly OT: just walked into work, and saw a copy of the odious Boston Herald.

    Front page trumpets Trump saving “nearly 1,000” jobs, with this in large font: “Made in the USA.”

    This kind of thing is a real danger, propaganda-wise. A huge fraction of the electorate is so innumerate they won’t understand why this is not even a drop in the bucket. (That’s all apart from the question of what the price for keeping the jobs was.)

    Don’t have the time to bait Trumptards on twitter etc about the apparent TreasSec pick. Drain the swamp! Did try baiting the crowd at NakedCapitalism, which veered into Trump-curious territory months ago, but they changed their commenting system to require registration.

    (There was actually a post by the blog owner describing why the pick is bad beyond the obvious reasons: other Wall St people, e.g. the ones Dems have appointed, would have had experience with regulatory issues because they were so far up in their firms. This guy, nope. Not gonna link because I can’t give a Trump-curious blog hits.)

  9. 9.

    liberal

    November 30, 2016 at 7:56 am

    @Mike E: Yeah, OK, so what are the marching orders? (Not snarking; don’t know.)

  10. 10.

    Another Scott

    November 30, 2016 at 7:59 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Donated. Thanks for the pointer.

    Thanks for the good news, RM. We need to keep an eye out on what’s happening and fight for fair election systems everywhere. We can’t make progress if people can’t express their wishes and have those wishes acted on…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  11. 11.

    Chris

    November 30, 2016 at 8:04 am

    Not trying to be a negative nellie…(but just preparing my nerves as a North Carolinian) but whats the next move on the other side? Will there/has there been a lawsuit filed to get this to SCOTUS?

  12. 12.

    dedc79

    November 30, 2016 at 8:27 am

    Just think though, after 4 (or god forbid) 8 years of Trump judicial appointments, our federal courts will be packed with right wing lunatics (well, more than they already are), and decisions like this will be few and far between.

    Also, this ruling still has to survive an appeal to a pretty conservative appellate circuit court.

  13. 13.

    Woodrow/asim

    November 30, 2016 at 8:27 am

    @liberal: Go with @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism‘s note and donate to Moral Monday’s 1st fund-raising drive.

    These folks have literally been front-line on the NC fight, and with everything still tied up in court, giving to them is a great starting point.

    Otherwise, there are a dozen “what to do?” think pieces out there, including the one I just wrote; I’m in SC but lived in NC (under McCrory!) for over a decade. If you need advice on exactly where to work, I’m sure I and others are happy to help!

  14. 14.

    liberal

    November 30, 2016 at 8:29 am

    @Woodrow/asim: Thanks. I’ll check them out. I posted too hastily.

  15. 15.

    debbie

    November 30, 2016 at 8:31 am

    I hope this will happen soon in Ohio. There’s no other way to loosen the GOP’s grip on government.

  16. 16.

    gvg

    November 30, 2016 at 8:33 am

    So when would elections with new districts be held? What about the legislators who have been elected under this illegal system? Does the state have to redo those elections? Or do the officials just get new constituents until 2018 when elections get held? I know its good news, I’m just trying to visualize what actually happens next. also who gets to try and design the new districts?

  17. 17.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    November 30, 2016 at 9:08 am

    @liberal

    : for a complete boycott of the state,

    It wont’ work. The whole blow up in NC is over the state’s success in adapting to the changing economy. NC brought in a lot of manufacturing jobs which in turn brought in a lot of people from out state and rural American hates that with a passion. They would rather live in a cardboard box under an over pass than have some outsider and their suspect ways living in their town and rubbing it in their faces what a pack of lazy losers they are.

  18. 18.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    November 30, 2016 at 9:12 am

    @gvg: New elections next November.

  19. 19.

    tobie

    November 30, 2016 at 9:14 am

    I haven’t been keeping us with the full details of the gubernatorial election in NC, but just saw on TPM that McCrory has rejected 3 of the lawyers that the NC State Board of Election put forward to represent it in court. Normally the attorney general would represent the Board but since the AG Roy Cooper is also the candidate he can’t do so. God knows why McCrory doesn’t have to recuse himself for his manifest conflicts of interest.

  20. 20.

    S-Curve

    November 30, 2016 at 9:22 am

    @gvg: New districts re-drawn (by legislators, but requiring approval) by March 15. Primaries for new districts in Aug/Sep (hasn’t been nailed down), general election in November. The court said there are going to be a lot of municipal elections then, so it won’t be too much of an added expense — but basically whatever it costs, it’s worth it. It’s very very good news (I live in NC), assuming it holds up.

    I don’t think Trump can get a Supreme Court justice confirmed and an appeal heard before the districts have to be redrawn, at least. I’ve heard that the state Repubs may try for a stay, but I can’t see a legal basis for that other than “we don’t wanna.”

  21. 21.

    S-Curve

    November 30, 2016 at 9:24 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: I don’t know about that. A lot of NC income comes from tourism, especially in the west and on the coast.

    IMO, having the basketball tournaments drop out of NC cost McCrory the election.

  22. 22.

    S-Curve

    November 30, 2016 at 9:28 am

    @efgoldman: The appellate courts are fairly conservative but not partisan — I don’t think they’ll shape their findings just to help the NCGOP out. And the gerrymandering is just ridiculous, maybe the worst in the country. If you look at a map with the districts, you can tell exactly where most black people live.

  23. 23.

    Ohio Mom

    November 30, 2016 at 11:03 am

    @debbie: Yes, Ohio is very nicely gerrymandered. I can tell you what happened in my corner, southwest Ohio.

    Once upon a time, Cincinnati was one Congressional district that sent Democrats to Congress. Then the metropolitan area was cut in two. My half, the eastern side, is now part of a district that follows the Ohio River east through several rural counties and as a result, we’re represented by Republicans (famously, a while back, Mean Jean Schmidt).

    The western half is also attached to rural areas, and also sends Republicas to Congress. So one Democratic Congressman traded for two Republicans. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati area went heavily for Hillary.

  24. 24.

    Hoodie

    November 30, 2016 at 11:18 am

    @efgoldman: this is a ruling by the 4th Circuit panel. It could be subjected to en banc by the entire 4th Circuit or SC review. Other good news is that Josh Stein is the new AG, so the leg would probably have to pursue any appeal using outside law firms, which looks like a waste of taxpayer funds in trying keep their lock on the leg.

  25. 25.

    Kathleen

    November 30, 2016 at 11:31 am

    @debbie At. least we passed bill that changes how districts are drawn for state races. Not sure when it is in effect.

  26. 26.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 30, 2016 at 12:05 pm

    Are we sure that a re-do in 2017 is better than one in 2018? Odd-year elections tend to have even lower turnout than midterms.

  27. 27.

    debbie

    November 30, 2016 at 12:17 pm

    @Kathleen:

    Maybe I’m too jaded, but I expect them to worm out of the agreement.

  28. 28.

    debbie

    November 30, 2016 at 12:20 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    Yes, they made the urban areas of Columbus/Franklin County as a single district, which is why we’re one of the few reliably Dem-voting districts in Ohio. This link includes a map of Ohio which shows just how silly the districting has become.

  29. 29.

    burnspbesq

    November 30, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    Oral argument in the Supreme Court next week on the McShitty’s appeal of a lower court decision that two House districts (1 and 12) were illegal racial gerrymanders. Preview at SCOTUSBlog.

  30. 30.

    burnspbesq

    November 30, 2016 at 12:34 pm

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    As I said on FB, if McCrory is expecting Durham County, of all places, to save his ass, he really needs to stop hitting himself in the head with a hammer.

  31. 31.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    November 30, 2016 at 1:44 pm

    @burnspbesq: honestly,, I think he’s either hoping to get Durham County thrown out completely or have it shown to have been so screwed up on Election Day that he gets a do over on the election.

    His lawyers mentioned running a new election during one of the SBOE hearings. I don’t know if they realize that would be the entire election

  32. 32.

    EBT

    November 30, 2016 at 1:46 pm

    He is expecting to cause enough of a “question” so it can still be stolen. He can push the legislature to give him the nod as long as the gap is under 10K votes.

  33. 33.

    S-Curve

    November 30, 2016 at 4:11 pm

    I also think the Durham element of this is part of the GOP plan to talk up “voter fraud” (in black areas, of course) as a huge problem that needs to be dealt with through massive voter suppression. Calling Jeff Sessions! I’m not even sure McCrory is bringing Durham up as a strategy for himself at this point.

    If the legislature intervenes and awards the election to McCrory, there will be a shitstorm in this state. The “sore loser” label is stuck now, and anything that keeps him in power will be seen (rightly) as a naked power grab.

  34. 34.

    Jack the Cold Warrior

    November 30, 2016 at 7:19 pm

    @S-Curve: @S-Curve: Agree! There are 2 thing NC politicians can’t do:

    Mess with ACC basketball.

    Mess with NASCAR.

    My brother and I are going to work here in Salisbury/Rowan County. This use to be solid D back when our Dad was a Precinct Chair in the 50’s-60’s. He got so bored with D’s always winning, that 1 year when the Party candidate for a legislative seat was a real asshole, Dad got his minister friend who was an R from New England who had moved to a post here to run for the seat. He won! Course, it was ok because he’d be considered a very liberal R these days.

    People have to realize, the South is not all “Deliverance” and “Mississippi Burning”. NC has always been a leader in education and fairly honest state government as compared to the Deep South. UNC-CH was a liberal bastion during the New Deal and after. Research Triangle Park brought world class high tech/medical companies in. There are many Islands of Blue, like Asheville, Greensboro, Raliegh-Durham-Chapel Hill. Even our small city Salisbury votes Blue. We have 2 small colleges, one a historically black college, a community college, VA Hospital, and 4 theater groups…

    Please Donate to Moral Monday and help bring NC back to its progressive side, as when we voted for Obama in 08 !

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