ROCKINGHAM — A new proposed congressional map includes a Triangle county with the Sandhills.
State Rep. Destin Hall posted a photo of the new map Tuesday night on Twitter that has Richmond County in District 9, along with neighboring and nearby counties Scotland, Anson, Union, Stanly, Montgomery Moore and Lee.
The map also includes half of Chatham — and Orange.
Most of the comments under the tweet were negative, some saying it was even worse and “more unfair” that the one recently shot down by the N.C. Supreme Court.
“I know some folks in Orange County who will probably have some choice comments about this map,” replied EVQ Analytics, with a follow-up comment, “Because who has more in common — politically, socially, and geographically — than do voters in Orange and Union counties?”
TheOIB commented that it was “the most gerrymandered map in history. I don’t see a single thing that makes sense.”
(Editor’s note: At one time, Rep. Mel Watt’s district stretched along the I-85 corridor from Durham to Charlotte.)
In another comment, TheOIB said, “Orange in same district as Anson. Yea, they have have a lot in common. Orange has UNC, while Anson has.. District is intentionally setup to dilute the left votes in Orange.”
Someone going by Rktne said, “Interesting that Orange County is lumped in with some solid red districts. How is anyone in orange co have any concerns of Scotland co?”
Joshua Berkov, who is listed as an author and librarian in Raleigh, said, “That 9th district ain’t gonna fly. Neither will the 13th. You’ve got some compactness issues here, or should I say the lack thereof.”
Still others called for an independent commission to draw the maps.
“Democrats and Republicans are not capable of drawing fair maps,” commented John Kibler of Union County. “They have both proven that. It’s time for Independent Commissions to draw district maps from the Congressional level to the State Legislature to County Commissions to School Boards. No more Political Maps!”
The court gave the General Assembly until Feb. 18 to redraw the maps.
Richmond is currently part of the 9th Congressional District, which also includes other counties mostly along the U.S. 74 corridor: Anson, Scotland, Robeson and Union counties, as well as parts of Mecklenburg, Bladen and Cumberland counties.
The map struck by the court had District 9 comprising mainly Charlotte, while Richmond — along with Union, Anson, Hoke, Moore, Montgomery, Scotland and Stanly counties and eastern Mecklenburg — made up the redrawn 8th Congressional District.
During the Republican primary for a special election for the 9th District, half of the 10 candidates were from outside the district. However, a quirk in the U.S. Constitution doesn’t require members of the U.S. House of Representatives to live in the district they’re elected to represent, only the state.
Rep. Dan Bishop, who won the special election, told the RO last year when the maps were redrawn that he planned to run for then District 8, which includes about 85% of the population he currently represents and has spent the past two years interacting with.
Bishop added that he planned to move into the district.
Election filing was halted by an unsigned order from the state Supreme Court just three days into the period due to ongoing legal challenges of the maps. However, it is currently slated to resume Feb. 24.
