Mark Barrett

mbarrett@citizen-times.com

Boundaries of the two U.S. House districts that take in most of the mountains would mostly be little changed if new lines approved by a state legislative committee Wednesday are put into effect, but some residents of southern Buncombe County and all Avery County residents would find themselves in new districts.

Districts in the rest of the state would be much different than at present and much more compact under the map approved by the General Assembly's Joint Select Redistricting Committee on a 24-11 party-line vote late Wednesday afternoon.

Figures distributed at the meeting in Raleigh suggest the districts would be likely to yield the same split of 10 Republican U.S. House members and three Democrats that the state has now even though district lines would be radically different than they are today. The Republican leaders of the committee that came up with the new districts have said explicitly that maintaining the current party balance is one of their goals.

Three federal judges on Feb. 5 directed the legislature to redraw the lines for the 1st and 12th districts, located in the eastern and central parts of the state respectively, no later than Friday. The state is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the effect of the order, but legislators are drawing up new maps in case that request is denied.

While the redistricting committee was meeting, Gov. Pat McCrory called a special session of the legislature to begin at 10 a.m. Thursday to consider new district lines. New districts would require postponement of the U.S. House portion of the March 15 primary, but votes on other offices are likely to go ahead as originally planned.

Western North Carolina is currently split between two U.S. House districts, the 10th and 11th. The 10th covers six counties in the southern Foothills — from Gaston County west to Polk County — plus the southeastern quadrant of Buncombe County, including most of Asheville. The 11th takes in the rest of the region, from Caldwell County west to Cherokee County, and the remaining parts of Buncombe.

The new map rolled out Wednesday would switch some precincts in Arden and Skyland from the 11th District to the 10th. Maps released so far are not at the right scale to show exactly what areas are affected by the change.

Avery County would move from the 11th District to the 5th, which takes in the Winston-Salem area and counties in the state's northwestern corner and the boundary between the 5th and 10th districts would change in the Hickory area. The new proposed map also adds a small part of Iredell County north of Charlotte to the 10th.

U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-Lincoln, represents the 10th and U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Jackson, represents the 11th.

Asheville for years was in the same congressional district as most of the rest of WNC before new district maps were approved in 2011. The effect of the change was to make the 11th, which historically covered most of the mountains, much more favorable to Republican candidates than before.

At least one speaker at a Monday public hearing on redistricting, Asheville City Councilwoman Julie Mayfield, called for the change to be reversed.

The judges who ordered new district lines said legislators had put too many African-American voters in the 1st and 12th districts in 2011, diluting black voters' influence in other districts in a step that made them more likely to elect Republicans.

The current 12th snakes from Charlotte to Greensboro and the 1st takes in much of eastern North Carolina.

Republican legislators said the new maps do not consider race as a factor at all and they are an improvement because they divide fewer counties among districts.

Sen. Dan Blue, D-Wake, however, called the new lines a "direct assault on democracy."

It appears that at least one U.S. House member, Rep. Alma Adams of Guilford County, would no longer live in the district she represents. Two congressmen in the Triangle area, one Democrat and one Republican, would reportedly live in the same district.

House members are not required by law to live in the districts they serve, but living outside them can be a significant political liability.

Redistricting plan may put a few incumbents on shaky ground

Update: Public criticizes, supports US House districts

Lawyers want Supreme Court to halt NC Congress elections