Wednesday, December 6, 2023
By Sandy Semans Ross | Outer Banks Voice on February 25, 2022
The state’s controversial redistricting maps seemed to finally be in place after the North Carolina Supreme Court, on Feb. 23, denied appeals challenging the maps that had been approved earlier that day by a three-judge panel. But the Republican legislative leadership has now taken its case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A release issued by the office of N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore on the afternoon of Feb. 25 said that attorneys for the North Carolina General Assembly filed with the U.S. Supreme Court an Emergency Application for Stay of the rulings of the State Supreme Court and three-judge panel. The state’s Republican legislative leadership is unhappy with a U.S. Congressional map redrawn by special masters hired by that panel of Superior Court judges.
The history of the legal battle over the redistricting maps is complicated. The maps were ordered redrawn during an earlier legal skirmish. The three-judge Superior Court panel had approved maps produced by the GOP members of the General Assembly and in response, three voter organizations appealed those maps to the North Carolina Supreme Court.
Candidate filing had begun based on the appealed maps, but the North Carolina Supreme Court shut down the filing and moved the primary date from March to May to allow time to review them. When the court finished its due diligence, it sent them back to the Superior Court panel with a long list of items that needed correction to eliminate gerrymandering.
The Superior Court sent them back to legislators to fix and hired three special masters to review the work and offer their advice. The special masters took issue with the U.S. Congressional map and drew its own. When the Superior Court approved the NC House and Senate maps as well as the congressional map produced by the special masters at noon on Feb. 23, the parties had until 5 p.m. that day to file appeals.
The Republican legislative leadership then appealed the Congressional maps to the State Supreme Court while the voter organizations appealed the North Carolina Senate map. The North Carolina High Court refused to hear the appeal, but the GOP leadership has now taken its case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
With a new legal battle in the offing over the Congressional districts, here is how the new NC House and Senate districts affect local communities, with a week left till the March 4 filing deadline.
Bobby Hanig, of Powells Point, who currently represents Dare County in the NC House, is set to run for state senator in the newly created District 3. Hanig, a Republican, is so far facing a challenge from Republican Jim Perry of Kinston in the May primary. Hanig has served one term in the North Carolina House. Perry has served one term in the North Carolina Senate.
Republican State Senator Bob Steinburg, of Edenton, has filed to run in a reconfigured District 1, which includes Dare County, and will compete against GOP member Norman Sanderson of Minnesott Beach in a primary. Sanderson has served five terms in the North Carolina Senate and one in the North Carolina House. Steinburg has served three terms in the House and one in the Senate. As of Friday, Feb. 25 no Democrats had filed for either the District 1 or District 3 Senate seats.
Because the North Carolina House redistricting map cuts through Kill Devil Hills, two different House members will represent Dare County. One will cover the northern portion of Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, Southern Shores and Duck. The other district begins in southern Kill Devil Hills and includes Nags Head, Manteo and the unincorporated portions of Dare County. Martins Point, tucked next to Southern Shores, will be in the northern district.
The northern portion of Dare County is now in House District 1 and Republican Ed Goodwin of Edenton has filed. No one has yet filed to run against him either in the primary or general election. Goodwin has served two terms in the House.
The southern portion of Dare is in House District 79 and Republican Keith Kidwell has filed to run. No one has yet filed run against him in a primary or general election. Kidwell has served two terms in the House and is from Chocowinity.
ADVERTISEMENT FOR BID:
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Bid Location and Time: Bid opening will be held in the Barnhill Contracting Rocky Mount Training & GPS Technology Room: 800 Tiffany Bvld, Rocky Mount, NC 27804. Time is as follows: January 09, 2024 at 10:00am and 2:00pm. Times per packages to be given on via addendum #01.
Barnhill Contracting Company will receive, open, and read publicly all bids received in person in the Training & GPS Technology Room at the main office and listed with the virtual viewing at the link to be posted on Barnhill’s Plan Room.
Bids will not be accepted from bidders that are not pre-qualified. No facsimile or email submissions are permitted. Sealed bids are to be hand delivered to the bid opening location noted above or mailed Sealed Bids can be delivered before 9:00am the day of the bid to the Barnhill Contracting Company Office at 800 Tiffany Blvd., Suite 200 Rocky Mount, NC 27804. Attention “Clint Hardison.”
The pre-bid meeting will be held in Person & Zoom Meeting on December 06, 2023 at 10:00 am at the Barnhill Contracting’s Rocky Mount Main Conference Room: 800 Tiffany Bvld, Rocky Mount, NC 27804.
The pre-bid meeting link can be located on Barnhill’s online Building Division Plan Room ( https://app.buildingconnected.com/public/54da832ce3edb5050017438b) and below. A preferred brand alternates meeting will be held via the same link at the end of the Prebid meeting.
Bid Documents can be viewed or downloaded through Barnhill’s online Building Division Plan Room (https://app.buildingconnected.com/public/54da832ce3edb5050017438b) after 12/04/2023.
All Bidders are strongly encouraged to include opportunities for HUB participation wherever possible in their respective Bid submission. HUB participation is a part of this contract and must comply with all requirements set forth in the Bid Documents.
The Construction Manager and Owner reserve the right to add pre-qualified bidders. The Construction Manager and Owner reserve the right to reject any and all bids. Should you require additional direction, please call Barnhill Contracting Company, (Clint Hardison – 252-802-0740).
Clint Hardison is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Dare EMS – Phase 2 Pre-Bid Conference
Time: Dec 6, 2023 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Meeting ID: 823 9069 2985
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Comments
Go to comments
Maddie
I don’t care which party dreamed up this plan. It is insane to divide a town/city, let alone a county!
snoppymonday
Why are our citizens not upset and the potential to split our county into two different legislative districts?
Stand up.
NC Constitution
Requirements for drawing legislative districts NC Constitution #3 in each chamber’s list of constitutional requirements.
ARTICLE II
LEGISLATIVE
Sec. 3. Senate districts; apportionment of Senators.
The Senators shall be elected from districts. The General Assembly, at the first regular session convening after the return of every decennial census of population taken by order of Congress, shall revise the senate districts and the apportionment of Senators among those districts, subject to the following requirements:
(1) Each Senator shall represent, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, the number of inhabitants that each Senator represents being determined for this purpose by dividing the population of the district that he represents by the number of Senators apportioned to that district;
(2) Each senate district shall at all times consist of contiguous territory;
(3) No county shall be divided in the formation of a senate district;
(4) When established, the senate districts and the apportionment of Senators shall remain unaltered until the return of another decennial census of population taken by order of Congress.
Sec. 4. Number of Representatives.
The House of Representatives shall be composed of 120 Representatives, biennially chosen by ballot.
Sec. 5. Representative districts; apportionment of Representatives.
The Representatives shall be elected from districts. The General Assembly, at the first regular session convening after the return of every decennial census of population taken by order of Congress, shall revise the representative districts and the apportionment of Representatives among those districts, subject to the following requirements:
(1) Each Representative shall represent, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, the number of inhabitants that each Representative represents being determined for this purpose by dividing the population of the district that he represents by the number of Representatives apportioned to that district;
(2) Each representative district shall at all times consist of contiguous territory;
(3) No county shall be divided in the formation of a representative district;
(4) When established, the representative districts and the apportionment of Representatives shall remain unaltered until the return of another decennial census of population taken by order of Congress.
Maddie
There you go! NC Constitution says “no county shall be divided ……”
Travis
Interestingly, this is one issue where I’ve yet to meet any (local) person on either side of the political fence who agrees with it. It’s a remarkable unanimity against this foolish plan.
Thanks for posting the requirements for drawing districts. I’d be interested to know how this Divided Dare plan gets around the fairly plain language of “no county shall be divided”.
Greg
This illegal split off Dare County needs to be quashed. The GOP caucus in The NCGA constantly proposes illegal measures on voting. These people are “lawmakers”. They seem to know little about the law. In their attempts to suppress voting that have been rejected all the way to the US Supreme Court as well as the appeals being regent Ed as well they have wasted the taxpayer’s money. It is time for Phil Berger and Tim Moore to go. They are unqualified to make laws and they are incompetent. To spilt a town on voting district lines is nothing short of insidious foolishness to protect their political careers. They have done little good for NC.