Two Western North Carolina lawmakers from opposing parties are leading efforts to reform the state's brazenly political drawing of legislative districts, cited as one of the most egregious examples of gerrymandering in national history.

House Bill 69, "an act to establish a nonpartisan redistricting process" was referred to that body's redistricting committee Thursday. It was filed Wednesday by Rep. Brian Turner, a Biltmore Forest Democrat; GOP Rep. Chuck McGrady, of Henderson County; and other bi-partisan sponsors.

Asheville has been a flashpoint of the redistricting fight after seeing its voting power diluted with the Republican takeover of the map drawing process in 2011.

Lawmakers have filed redistricting reform bills in previous years, unsuccessfully.

The sponsors said uncertainty over pending map litigation and the shaky balance of power at the legislature make them more optimistic their ideas will be voted on this year.

But Republican leaders in Raleigh may see little reason to support the reforms, meaning the attempt could be "dead on arrival" without the intervention of the North Carolina Supreme Court, said Mike Bitzer, Catawba College political science professor and nationally recognized political expert.

Supporters: Redistricting now has a chance

The House and Senate revise and approve General Assembly and congressional districts based on population changes from the census. For generations, majority parties have pushed through maps favoring their sides.

When they were in the minority 10 years ago, many Republicans supported the idea of the commission. In the years since regaining General Assembly control, they largely have set the proposal aside.

HB69 co-sponsor McGrady said both political and legal uncertainties may make GOP leaders more willing to consider the idea now. Democrats made enough seat gains in November to put in doubt which party would control redistricting in 2021, he said.

It's "maybe the time that both sides finally come together and say we prefer to have nonpartisan redistricting as opposed to have the other party be completely in charge of the system," McGrady said at a news conference with groups that back a redistricting overhaul. McGrady said colleagues also don't like the idea of judges making redistricting decisions.

Turner, whose 116th House district covers Buncombe County's south and east, including South Asheville, said throughout history "both parties have been guilty of drawing maps that would keep themselves in power."

"This bipartisan effort seeks to end this practice and restore fairness and transparency in redistricting and confidence in our elections," the Democrat said in a Wednesday Facebook post.

HB69 would create an 11-member "nonpartisan" redistricting commission with four registered Democrats, four Republicans and three from neither party. Legislative leaders would submit dozens of nominees, who would be chosen for the commission at random.

The commission wouldn't be allowed to use political data in drawing maps.

The panel would propose new legislative and congressional maps to the General Assembly after each decennial census, the next one of which occurs in 2020. The maps would be subject to the approval of the legislature.

Asheville-based redistricting expert, Blake Esselstyn, who does analysis for clients he describes as generally "nonprofits opposed to gerrymandering" called the bill a "huge improvement."

He pointed to proposed transparency rules that prevent closed-door meetings and require all decisions be made by the commission at public hearings.

"I’ve not given this the fine-tooth comb, but it seems to have very strong protections for transparency," said Esselystyn whose company is EQV Maps, a reference to the North Carolina motto "Esse Quam Videri," a Latin phrase meaning "to be, rather than to seem."

Most 'brazen' gerrymandering in U.S.

GOP maps have been almost continuously subject to lawsuits since 2011. Maps were redrawn after courts ruled some of the districts had been illegally gerrymandered along racial lines. In March, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit arguing that the congressional lines contain excessive partisan bias.

While statewide elections show a near 50-50 division between votes for Democrats and Republicans, GOP maps have resulted in a split of 10 Republican members of Congress versus three Democrats.

In Asheville, once part of a single 11th Congressional District which covered Western North Carolina, the maps peeled off most of the heavily Democratic city, placing that portion in the conservative 10th District which stretches to the suburbs of Charlotte.

Rick Hasen, a California-Irvine professor often called the nation’s leading election law expert, called the districts “the most brazen and egregious” gerrymandering yet seen in the United States.

North Carolina leaders admitted to the practice, but argued it was perfectly legal. A North Carolina-based federal court found that Rep. David Lewis, an architect of House redistricting, said he drew the maps to “give partisan advantage to 10 Republicans and 3 Democrats because he didn’t believe it possible to draw a map for 11 Republicans and 2 Democrats.”

Along with congressional districts, the lines for state legislators are facing a lawsuit filed by the North Carolina Chapter of Common Cause. The case is set to go to trial July 15, with supporters hoping it will reach the NC Supreme Court.

But Common Cause executive director Bob Phillips said "prevailing in those court decisions is not the full solution."

"The full solution is having a redistricting reform bill pass," said Phillips, adding there was evidence reform had a chance this year with the bill moving to committee quickly. All other attempts of the last eight years never made it that far, he said.

Voters in Michigan, Missouri, Utah and Colorado approved ballot referendums in November to use independent map-drawers, and Virginia's Republican House speaker said last month he now supports the idea, citing lengthy court battles over lines in his state.

But Catawba College professor Bitzer said it might take the courts to bring reform in North Carolina.

More:Dems, Common Cause file lawsuit claiming excessive partisanship in NC districts

More:Judges: North Carolina must redraw GOP’s gerrymandered map

Maps were 'insurance' against midterm losses, expert says

Bitzer said some Republicans may see an independent commission as way to hedge bets against "a tumultuous 2020 election cycle" that could see them lose control of one or both legislative chambers to Democrats.

"But the lesson from 2018 is that while Republicans lost some suburban seats, their majority status in both chambers were protected by the insurance policy of their maps against a Democratic-favored midterm election."

In North Carolina, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger are among Republicans who co-sponsored commission legislation during the 2000s. Democrats controlled the legislature for most of that decade and also saw their maps struck down by courts.

Berger has said repeatedly in recent years that he doesn't believe a commission would improve the system. Moore, who was among those voting for a bill to create a commission that passed the House in 2011, said Wednesday that he expects McGrady's measure will get a hearing but doesn't personally see a need for a change.

"At the end of the day, drawing legislative districts is an inherently political process," Moore said, adding that even with a commission, "you're never going to take politics out of politics."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.