Guilford County Commission redistricting string

UPDATE: Binker reports that following a meeting between Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and Guilford County Commission Chair Skip Alston, a Democrat, a compromise is being considered in which the Republican-controlled NC General Assembly would reduce the number of seats, but the Democratically-controlled commission would be allowed to redraw the lines.

ORIGINAL POST: Report from Binker on the Republican legislation to reduce the size of the Guilford County Commission.

Guilford GOP regular Theresa Yon reports on Facebook that the lightning-fast Blust bill has passed its second of three readings.

The map.

Some fallout.

Some discussion.

Michael Picarelli, executive director, Guilford County Republican Party:

The only word to know in this case is “retrogression.” This is how the Democrats have maintained their voter base in minority districts since 1965. In a perfect world, this plan would have been six districts and three at-large. In addition, the chair can only be elected in an at-large seat. No matter how we moved the map the DOJ would have rejected the plan based on the following:

There are four basic legal principles that govern the redistricting process: (1) the “one person-one vote” (equal population) principle; (2) Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, requiring preclearance and applying a “retrogression” standard to minority group populations in specific districts; (3) the non-discrimination standard of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act; and (4) the Shaw v. Reno limitations on the use of race as a factor in redistricting.

Jon Firebaugh tells me that the eight-district plan preserves three majority-minority voting districts. The majority-minority district in High Point that is currently represented by Bruce Davis stretches into south Greensboro in order to capture a sufficient number of black voters to retain its status.

I haven't had a chance to run the numbers to independently analyze the racial and partisan implications of the plan.

Firebaugh also said that all commissioners who were elected last year — Bruce Davis in District 1, Bill Bencini in District 2, Linda Shaw in District 3, Kay Cashion in District 6 and Carolyn Coleman in District 8 — would be the sole representatives in their new districts. But all would have to run again next year, as I understand it, regardless of whether their last election was in 2010 or 2008.