Gibson-Picarelli matchup in new Guilford commission District 5?

Democrat Paul Gibson tells YES! Weekly he will run for Guilford County Commission in the new District 5. Gibson currently serves in an at-large seat, but has been forced to run for a district seat because of a redistricting plan imposed on the county by the Republican-controlled NC General Assembly.

The district travels north from the campus of Greensboro College, encompassing neighborhoods such as Irving Park, and then swerves west along Battleground Avenue before broadening out as it reaches the Rockingham County line.

"I'm already working on it," Gibson said. "It's a district that's designed for a Republican to win, but I've carried those precincts in the past, so I feel like I can win if I work hard."

Meanwhile Guilford County Executive Director Michael Picarelli references himself as a "rumored County Commissioner D5 candidate" in this Facebook post.

Although registered Democrats outnumber their Republican counterparts, the new District 5 would have been carried by Republican Richard Burr in the 2010 Senate race and Pat McCrory in the 2008 gubernatorial race. Democrat Kay Hagan would have carried the district handily in the 2008 Senate race, but Democrat Barack Obama would have taken only 50 percent of the vote in the 2008 presidential race. Democrats were heavily favored in that year and are not likely to fare as well this year.


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