The process by which legislatures surgically draw voting districts in order to preordain partisan victory is finally getting the coverage it deserves. Indeed, courts have recently ordered amended lines for North Carolina's Congressional districts, while the future of the entire General Assembly, whose lines were deemed “race-based,” lies in the hands of John Roberts and SCOTUS. Will we have a special election in 2017? Will we have radically new lines? If so, in which districts? Thanks to the wide screening of films such as “Democracy for Sale” as well as influential writing by authors such as Ari Berman and David Daley, we now are gaining a clear picture of how deep the problem runs. SInce both parties have historically engaged in the process of gerrymandering, a powerful bipartisan movement is afoot to remove districting power from the state legislature and put it in the hands of an independent commission to ensure that every North Carolinian’s vote counts the same. One person, one vote.
During the latest elections for NCGA, a staggering 40 percent of races were won unopposed. While many structural problems contribute to this anti-democratic lack of competition, including irregular hours and low pay for legislators, the inevitably one-sided nature of the potential contests themselves is the main reason for one-sided elections. Take my House district as an example: it is created to include two small cities, Clemmons and Kernersville, that are predominantly white and suburban, and their surrounding deep-red rural outlying areas. A thin bridge connects these towns, while carefully skirting most of the city of Winston-Salem that lies in between. One arm of the district reaches into and grabs out just enough of my neighborhood, the Ardmore Historic District, to render its distinct viewpoint, politics, and culture impotent during elections. Home to many Wake Forest and UNC School of the Arts professors, health care workers, medical students, and young professionals and families, the area contains the only Jewish Temple in the city. These are some of the most reliably blue precincts in North Carolina. However, our voice is completely drowned out by the utter redness of the rest of our voting cohort. Culturally, we have much more affinity with Winston-Salem as a whole than we do the cul-de-sacs, strip malls, and farm country of the rest of the district.
Finding qualified candidates who will run in good faith in what amounts to suicide missions in these ridiculously shaped, gerrymandered districts is appallingly difficult. County party chairs have little reason to be interested, since the lines slice through and include multiple counties. State Democratic groups understandably put their money and attention on the few competitive races that still remain. Why should they throw good money into a pit of certain loss? However, holding candidates and elected officials accountable through the inevitable process of public scrutiny an election campaign entails is essential for good government. Moreover, forcing candidates to spend money on these races means that they cannot spend it to shore up other races. A classic example is Virginia Foxx, my long-serving, ultra-right-wing representative to the U.S. Congress. She has some $4 million in her war chest, and because she has not faced a credible challenger in several cycles, she has been able to donate freely to other candidates. Forcing her unto an actual race would help the chances of Democrats in other races that may not be overt, but will be deeply felt nonetheless.
“Democracy for Sale” highlights the case of an NCGA member whose very address was drawn right out of her district--she thinks deliberately--and the same thing happened to Linda Garrou right here in the Triad. It is safe to say that the educational level and political awareness of the Ardmore Historic District is quite high, and that if any challenge could be mounted to the current office holder, Donny Lambeth (R), it could conceivably come from this neighborhood. However, the uncertainty and chaos of the district lines themselves presents a further complication for someone like me: I have no idea what district I will even be in! I can walk three or four blocks in several directions and find myself in a completely different district. The same is true of my Senate zone, which includes the rabidly red town of Yadkinville, and whose representative is the notorious Joyce Krawiec, whose Tweet demeaning women’s marchers as unintelligent gained her national attention. A two-block walk East puts me in a solidly Democratic district. The uncertainty looming over the precise boundaries of the districts is utterly paralyzing.
How can I or any of my neighbors even consider running for office? How can we mobilize our precincts to care at all about NCGA elections? How can we connect with other Democrats in our area when there are no clear ties that bind us together culturally or geographically? Roll the dice, and I could be in one of three House Districts, and could also switch Senate representation. As someone who is highly motivated to make swift changes in Raleigh, I am completely demoralized and disenfranchised. My voice counts for virtually nothing in influencing state law and policy, and I have little recourse to make change. Preparing to campaign takes many months of work, study, and enrollment of others. How can I or any of my neighbors consider such a momentous effort, knowing it might all be for nought?
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