2020 legislative maps finalized, congressional maps still up in the air

Could it be? Is our long statewide nightmare over gerrymandered political maps finally over?

Well… not quite yet. The 2020 legislative maps appear to be final after the State Supreme Court declined last week to take up yet another legal challenge. However, we’re still waiting to find out whether the newly-passed congressional maps will pass a court test after the latest lawsuit.

• The new congressional maps give much tougher re-election races to GOP Reps. George Holding and Mark Walker. But even if Holding and Walker both lose, Republicans will still hold an 8-5 majority of NC’s congressional seats in a state that usually votes 50/50.
• In 2018, about 1.85 million North Carolinians voted for Republican congressional candidates while 1.77 million voted for Democrats. That’s a split of 50% to 48%. But because of the GOP’s partisan gerrymandering, Republicans won 9 seats compared to 3 for Democrats, not counting the NC-09 which was tainted by GOP election fraud. 
• For years, North Carolina elections have been blatantly rigged through gerrymandering, to the detriment of communities across our state. North Carolina deserves a healthy democracy and a healthy environment for our families.

Whatever happens with North Carolina’s congressional maps, it’s long past time to stop this never-ending cycle of gerrymandering and court intervention once and for all. We need a nonpartisan redistricting law that takes party politics out of the equation once and for all.