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North Carolina state legislative special elections, 2017
On August 30, 2017, the General Assembly of North Carolina adopted new district maps. On October 26, 2017, the district court appointed a special master "to assist the Court in further evaluating and, if necessary, redrawing" the revised district maps. The special master, Nate Persily, issued final recommendations in December 2017. On January 19, 2018, the district court issued an order adopting Persily's recommendations. On February 6, 2018, the Supreme Court issued a partial stay against the district court's order. For more information, see below.
On July 31, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that special state legislative elections in North Carolina would not have to be held prior to the 2018 general election. The court also ordered state lawmakers to enact a new map for use in the 2018 general election by September 1, 2017. State legislators had proposed a November 15, 2017, deadline; the court ruled that this deadline "would interfere with the ability of potential candidates to prepare for the upcoming 2018 election."[1]
The court's order came in the wake of the court's August 2016 ruling that North Carolina's state legislative district map constituted an illegal racial gerrymander, placing too many minority voters into a small number of districts, thereby diluting the impact of their votes. In November 2016, the court ordered the state to conduct special elections in 2017 using a new district map.[2][3] Republican lawmakers petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States for a stay of the district court's decision; this stay was granted on January 10, 2017. On June 5, 2017, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous per curiam ruling affirming the district court ruling that an illegal racial gerrymander had occurred. However, the district court was directed to reconsider its order for special elections in 2017, with the high court finding that the district court had not undertaken the proper analysis in determining its remedy.[4]
| North Carolina redistricting case timeline | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | ||||||||
| May 19, 2015 | North Carolina v. Covington filed with the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. | ||||||||
| August 11, 2016 | The federal court ordered 28 state legislative district maps in North Carolina to be redrawn because they misrepresented the racial groups living in the districts. | ||||||||
| November 29, 2016 | The federal court ordered special elections to be held in 2017 with newly redrawn district maps. | ||||||||
| December 30, 2016 | Republican legislators in North Carolina appealed the federal court decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. | ||||||||
| January 10, 2017 | The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily halted the federal court ruling and put the special elections on hold. | ||||||||
| June 5, 2017 | The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the federal court decision in North Carolina v. Covington. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the federal court to reconsider whether special elections were warranted. | ||||||||
| July 31, 2017 | The United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that special elections would not be held prior to the 2018 general election. | ||||||||
| August 10, 2017 | The North Carolina state Legislature adopted criteria for the new state legislative district map. | ||||||||
| August 30, 2017 | The North Carolina state Legislature adopted new House and Senate district maps. | ||||||||
| October 26, 2017 | The United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina appointed a special master to revise the maps. | ||||||||
| December 1, 2017 | Nate Persily, the special master, issued his final recommendations on the district maps. | ||||||||
| January 19, 2018 | The district court issued an order adopting Persily's recommendations. | ||||||||
| February 6, 2018 | The Supreme Court issued a partial stay against the district court's order. | ||||||||
Background
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
First federal court ruling
On August 11, 2016, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that North Carolina's state legislative district map constituted an illegal racial gerrymander. The court found that the General Assembly of North Carolina had placed too many minority voters into a small number of districts, thereby diluting the impact of their votes. The court determined that nine state Senate districts and 19 state House districts had been subject to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The court ruled that the existing map could be used for the 2016 general election, but that state lawmakers had to draft a new map during their next legislative session.[5][6]
Second federal court ruling
On November 29, 2016, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ordered the state to conduct special elections for the state legislature in 2017 using new state legislative district maps. The court ordered state lawmakers to redraw state legislative district maps by March 15, 2017. In its ruling, the court wrote the following:[7][8]
| “ | While special elections have costs, those costs pale in comparison to the injury caused by allowing citizens to continue to be represented by legislators elected pursuant to a racial gerrymander. The court recognizes that special elections typically do not have the same level of voter turnout as regularly scheduled elections, but it appears that a special election here could be held at the same time as many municipal elections, which should increase turnout and reduce costs.[9] | ” |
| —United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina | ||
State Representative David Lewis (R) and State Senator Bob Rucho (R) issued a press release on November 29, 2016, criticizing the order. In the press release, Lewis and Rucho said, "This politically motivated decision, which would effectively undo the will of millions of North Carolinians just days after they cast their ballots, is a gross overreach that blatantly disregards the constitutional guarantee for voters to duly elect their legislators to biennial terms."[10] The North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) voiced its support of the special elections following the federal order. On the federal order, Kimberly Reynolds, the executive director of NCDP, said, "The North Carolina Democratic Party applauds the federal court's order to redraw these gerrymandered legislative districts. Our elected officials should fairly represent our state, and redrawn districts will help level the playing field."[11]
U.S. Supreme Court sends case back to federal district court
On December 30, 2016, Republican legislators petitioned the United States Supreme Court to intervene and stay the district court's decision. On January 10, 2017, the high court issued an order halting the special elections pending appeals.[12][13][14]
Senate President Pro tem Phil Berger (R) and House Speaker Timothy K. Moore (R) issued a joint statement supporting the order. In the press release, Berger and Moore said, "[We] … are grateful the U.S. Supreme Court has quashed judicial activism and rejected an attempt to nullify the votes of North Carolinians in the 2016 legislative elections." Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue (D) said in a town hall in March 2017 that he was confident the special elections would happen in 2017. "I’m confident, and most of the lawyers who practice in this area [of law] …are confident that the [U.S.] Supreme Court, when they look at the case, because it has been appealed up there, will uphold the findings of the federal court that this is unconstitutional. The case law says they have no choice," he said.[15]
On June 5, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a unanimous per curiam ruling affirming the decision of the district court, which had earlier determined that the aforementioned 28 districts had been subject to an illegal racial gerrymander. However, the district court was directed to reconsider its order for special elections in 2017, with the high court finding that the district court had not undertaken the proper analysis in determining its remedy:[16]
| “ | Relief in redistricting cases is "fashioned in the light of well-known principles of equity." A district court therefore must undertaken an 'equitable weighing process' to select a fitting remedy for the legal violations it has identified, taking account of "what is necessary, what is fair, and what is workable." ... Rather than undertaking such an analysis in this case, the District Court addressed the balance of equities in only the most cursory fashion. ... For that reason, we cannot have confidence that the court adequately grappled with the interests on both sides of the remedial question before us.[9] | ” |
| —Supreme Court of the United States | ||
In reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) called a special session of the legislature to begin on June 8, 2017, to redraw the state’s legislative district maps. The General Assembly of North Carolina voted on June 8, 2017, to cancel the special session because Cooper did not have the constitutional authority to call the session because there was not an "extraordinary occasion" to call a special session, as required by the state constitution.[17]
Federal court takes up the case after SCOTUS' ruling
Before a three-judge panel could make a decision on whether to hold special elections in 2017, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina asked the two parties involved to file briefs on the issues remaining in North Carolina v. Covington. On July 6, 2017, lawyers representing the North Carolina legislators filed a brief which gave their reasons to the court for why special elections should not be held in 2017. The brief pointed to the costs associated with holding the elections in 2017, which was estimated at $20 million. The lawyers said that up to 35 of the 50 state Senate districts and 81 out of 120 state House districts could be impacted by the redraw.[18][19]
On July 27, 2017, a three-judge panel heard arguments over whether special elections should be held in 28 state legislative districts with newly redrawn maps. The plaintiffs in the case asked for the maps to be drawn within two weeks. The primary election would have been held on December 5, 2017, and the special general election would have been held on March 6, 2018. The defendants in the case argued that holding special elections between municipal elections in the fall of 2017 and the 2018 regularly scheduled elections would be too burdensome on the state.[20]
On July 31, 2017, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina issued an order denying the plaintiff's request for a special election using a new district map in 2017.[21]
| “ | We do not disagree with Legislative Defendants that there are many benefits to a time line that allows for the General Assembly (1) to receive public feedback on the criteria to be used in drawing the remedial districts and proposed remedial districting plans applying those criteria; (2) to revise the proposed plans based on that feedback; and (3) to engage in robust deliberation. Although we appreciate that Legislative Defendants could have been gathering this information over the past months and weeks, Plaintiffs’ two-week schedule does not provide the General Assembly with adequate time to meet their commendable goal of obtaining and considering public input and engaging in robust debate and discussion. Therefore, we prefer to give the legislature some additional time to engage in a process substantively identical to the one they have proposed.[9] | ” |
| —United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina | ||
The court ordered state lawmakers to enact a new district map by September 1, 2017, for use in the 2018 general election. State lawmakers had proposed a November 15, 2017, deadline; the court ruled that this "deadline would interfere with the ability of potential candidates to prepare for the upcoming 2018 election."[21]
North Carolina Legislature adopts criteria for the new map
On August 10, 2017, the House and Senate redistricting committees adopted criteria for the new state legislative district map. These criteria included the following:[22][23][24]
- Districts must have approximately equal populations.
- Districts must be contiguous (i.e., all parts of a district must be connected).
- Districts must adhere to county groupings.
- Districts must be compact.
- Lawmakers should minimize the splitting of precincts when drawing districts.
- Lawmakers should take into account existing municipal boundaries when drawing districts.
- Lawmakers can take into account political considerations and election data when drawing districts.
- Lawmakers can make efforts to avoid pairing incumbents within the same district.
- Lawmakers cannot take race into consideration when drawing districts.
State Democrats criticized some of these criteria. Representative Henry Michaux, Jr. (D), referring to the rule that prevents lawmakers from considering race, said, "How are you going to prove to the court that you did not violate their order in terms of racial gerrymandering? You cannot escape the fact that race has to be in the somewhere." David Lewis (R), chair of the House redistricting committee, said, "We do not believe it is appropriate given the court's order in this case for these committees to consider race when drawing districts." House Minority Leader Darren Jackson (D), referring to the criterion that permits lawmakers to consider incumbency, said "It just seems ridiculous to me that you get to say, 'We will protect the incumbents elected using unconstitutional maps." Lewis said, "Every result from where a line is drawn will be an inherently political thing. It is right and relevant to review past performance in drawing districts." Drafts of the new district maps were slated to be released in advance of expected public hearings on August 22 or 23.[22][23][25]
North Carolina Legislature draws new map
On August 19 and 20, 2017, the General Assembly of North Carolina released drafts of revised district maps for the state House and Senate, respectively. Public hearings on the maps took place on August 23, 2017, in seven different parts of the states: Raleigh, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Hudson, Jamestown, Weldon, and Washington. The proposed House map paired incumbents in four districts:[26][27][28][29]
- Representatives Jean Farmer-Butterfield (D) and Susan Martin (R) in District 24.
- Representatives John Sauls (R) and Robert Reives (D) in District 51.
- Representatives Jon Hardister and John Faircloth, both Republicans, in District 61.
- Representatives Carl Ford and Larry Pittman, both Republicans, in District 83.
The proposed Senate district map also paired incumbents in four districts:[30]
- Senators Erica Smith-Ingram (D) and Bill Cook (R) in District 3.
- Senators Chad Barefoot and John Alexander, both Republicans, in District 18; on August 20, Barefoot announced that he would not seek re-election in 2018.
- Senators Joyce Krawiec and Dan Barrett, both Republicans, in District 31.
- Senators Deanna Ballard and Shirley Randleman, both Republicans, in District 45.
On August 28, 2017, the House passed HB 927, the House redistricting plan, and sent it to the Senate. HB 927 cleared the Senate on August 30, 2017, and became law. As enacted, the state House district map paired incumbents in three districts:[31]
- Representatives Jean Farmer-Butterfield (D) and Susan Martin (R) in District 24.
- Representatives Jon Hardister and John Faircloth, both Republicans, in District 61.
- Representatives Carl Ford and Larry Pittman, both Republicans, in District 83.
The House map enacted by the legislature on August 30, 2017, is displayed below. For further details, see here.
On August 28, 2017, the Senate passed SB 691, the Senate redistricting plan, and sent it to the House. SB 691 cleared the House on August 30, 2017, and was enacted into law. As enacted, the state Senate district map paired incumbents in four districts:[32][33][34][35]
- Senators Erica Smith-Ingram (D) and Bill Cook (R) in District 3; on August 29, Cook announced that he would not seek re-election in 2018.
- Senators Chad Barefoot and John Alexander, both Republicans, in District 18; on August 20, Barefoot announced that he would not seek re-election in 2018.
- Senators Joyce Krawiec and Dan Barrett, both Republicans, in District 31.
- Senators Deanna Ballard and Shirley Randleman, both Republicans, in District 45.
The Senate map enacted by the legislature on August 30, 2017, is displayed below. For further details, see here.
On October 26, 2017, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina issued an order appointing Nate Persily as a special master "to assist the Court in further evaluating and, if necessary, redrawing" the revised maps. The court indicated that the redrawn maps for Senate Districts 21 and 28 and House Districts 21, 36, 37, 40, 41, 57, and 105 "either fail to remedy the identified constitutional violation or are otherwise legally unacceptable." The court did not provide a precise deadline in its order; it did, however, indicate that the "upcoming filing period for the 2018 election cycle" factored into its decision to appoint a special master.[36] North Carolina Democratic Party chairman Wayne Goodwin issued a statement via Twitter in support of the ruling: "This is a stunning rebuke of Republican legislators who refused to fix their racist maps and a collosal political failure from Speaker Moore and Senator Berger. They had a chance to fix their maps and doubled down instead — and now the courts will fix it for them." October 30, 2017, Republican lawmakers filed a motion objecting to the appointment of Persily as special master; they argued that there was ample time for the state legislature to make any court-ordered amendments to the maps before the 2018 candidate filing period. GOP lawmakers also argued that Persily might be biased because he "has a history of commenting negatively on North Carolina districting matters and working on districting matters with organizations who are allied with the plaintiffs in this case."[37][38]
On November 13, 2017, Persily issued draft redistricting plans. In the order announcing the release of the draft plans, Persily noted that "these draft plans are provided at this early date to give the parties time to lodge objections and to make suggestions, as to unpairing incumbents or otherwise, that might be accommodated in the final plan," which was due to the court by December 1, 2017. Persily's proposed maps can be accessed here.[39]
On December 1, 2017, Persily issued his final recommendations, which he said "represent a limited response to a select number of districts that require alteration to comply with the law." Rep. David Lewis (R) and Sen. Ralph Hise (R), the chairmen of their chambers' respective redistricting committees, issued a statement criticizing Persily's recommendations: "By making many changes Democrats demanded, Mr. Persily has confirmed our worst suspicions: this entire ‘judicial process’ is little more than a thinly-veiled political operation where unelected judges, legislating from the bench, strip North Carolinians of their constitutional right to self-governance by appointing a left-wing California professor to draw districts handing Democrats control of legislative seats they couldn’t win at the ballot box." Wayne Goodwin, North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) chairman, defended Persily's recommendations: "The independent, non-partisan special master had one task – to fix Republicans’ unconstitutional racial gerrymander after Speaker Moore and Leader Berger refused. NCDP applauds the special master for doing just that, and for giving voters in the affected districts a chance to pick their representatives again instead of the other way around. Republicans made this bed and now they must lie in it, and their efforts to delegitimize the special master and our judicial system are dangerous and destructive." The district court panel overseeing the case issued an order adopting Persily's recommendations on January 19, 2018. On January 21, 2018, state Republican lawmakers filed a motion requesting that the court stay its order pending an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. On February 6, 2018, the Supreme Court issued a partial stay against the district court's order. The stay applied to five revised state House districts in Wake and Mecklenburg counties. The four remaining district maps adopted by the district court (in Hoke, Cumberland, Guilford, Sampson, and Wayne counties) were permitted to stand. On February 7, 2018, opponents of the 2017 maps adopted by the state legislature petitioned a state court to intervene and order that the Persily maps be implemented in Wake and Mecklenburg counties. On February 12, 2018, a panel of state superior court judges declined this request. On February 21, 2018, opponents filed another suit in state court challenging the legality of the remedial Wake County district map. The plaintiffs requested that the court intervene to prevent the map's use in further elections.[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50]
Majority control
The General Assembly of North Carolina is the state legislature of North Carolina. The General Assembly makes the laws of North Carolina, also known as the General Statutes. The General Assembly is a bicameral legislature, consisting of the North Carolina House of Representatives (formerly the North Carolina House of Commons) and the North Carolina State Senate. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2016 elections. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).
| North Carolina State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 7, 2016 | After November 8, 2016 | |
| Democratic Party | 16 | 15 | |
| Republican Party | 34 | 35 | |
| Total | 50 | 50 | |
| North Carolina House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 7, 2016 | After November 8, 2016 | |
| Democratic Party | 45 | 46 | |
| Republican Party | 74 | 74 | |
| Unaffiliated | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 120 | 120 | |
Redistricting in North Carolina
- See also: Redistricting in North Carolina
In North Carolina, the state legislature is responsible for drawing both congressional and state legislative district lines. District maps cannot be vetoed by the governor. State legislative redistricting must take place in the first regular legislative session following the United States Census. There are no explicit deadlines in place for congressional redistricting.[51]
State law establishes the following requirements for state legislative districts:[51]
- Districts must be contiguous and compact.
- Districts "must cross county lines as little as possible." If counties are grouped together, the group should include as few counties as possible.
- Communities of interest should be taken into account.
There are no similar restrictions in place regarding congressional districts.[51]
See also
- North Carolina State Senate
- North Carolina House of Representatives
- General Assembly of North Carolina
- State legislative elections, 2016
- State legislative special elections, 2017
Footnotes
- ↑ CNN, "North Carolina given September deadline to draw new maps in gerrymandering case," August 1, 2017
- ↑ 11 Eyewitness News, "Federal Court Orders North Carolina to Redraw Districts, Hold Elections in Fall of 2017," accessed November 30, 2016
- ↑ The Daily Record, "Redistricting Order Effect Might Be Seen Locally," accessed December 1, 2016
- ↑ NY Times, "U.S. Supreme Court Affirms North Carolina Districts Rely Too Much on Race," accessed June 5, 2017
- ↑ Election Law Blog, "Breaking: 3-Judge Court Unanimously Rules NC State Districts Unconstitutional Racial Gerrymander," August 11, 2016
- ↑ United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, "Covington v. North Carolina," August 11, 2016
- ↑ Governing, "North Carolina Ordered to Hold Special Elections After Redrawing Districts," November 30, 2016
- ↑ Reuters, "Federal judges order North Carolina to redraw legislative districts," November 30, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Citizen-Times, "Redistricting ruling might help NC Democrats - or not," December 1, 2016
- ↑ ABC 11, "Federal court orders North Carolina to redraw districts, hold elections in Fall of 2017," accessed April 17, 2017
- ↑ The News and Observer, "GOP legislative leaders ask US Supreme Court to halt 2017 elections," December 30, 2016
- ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "State of North Carolina, et al. v. Sandra Little Covington, et al.: Emergency Application for Stay of Remedial order Pending Resolution of Direct Appeal in This Court," December 30, 2016
- ↑ Election Law Blog, "Breaking: #SCOTUS Halts NC Special Elections Ordered after Finding of Racial Gerrymandering," January 10, 2017
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedchronicle - ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "North Carolina v. Covington: Per Curiam," June 5, 2017
- ↑ News&Observer, "NC House, Senate cancel Cooper’s call for redistricting special session, calling it ‘unconstitutional’," June 9, 2017
- ↑ The News&Observer, "NC lawmakers: More than 65% of districts could change to correct racial gerrymanders," July 10, 2017
- ↑ Bladen Journal, "NCGA attorneys to court: We would have to redraw more than 100 districts," July 10, 2017
- ↑ My Fox 8, "Judges deciding if North Carolina will hold a special NCGA election," July 27, 2017
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, "Covington v. North Carolina: Order," July 31, 2017
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 The News and Observer, "NC legislators OK redistricting rules. Democrats aren’t happy." August 10, 2017
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 WRAL.com, "Redistricting criteria call for partisan maps, no consideration of race," August 10, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "House Select Committee on Redistricting – 8-10-2017," accessed August 11, 2017
- ↑ Citizen-Times, "NC remapping rules include election results but not race," August 11, 2017
- ↑ The News and Observer, "New map reveals part of NC Republicans’ redistricting plan," August 19, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Districts and Their Incumbents: NC House Plan," August 21, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "August 22, 2017 Redistricting Public Hearing Sites," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ The News and Observer, "Here’s what the public had to say about GOP redistricting plans," August 22, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Districts and Their Incumbents: NC Senate Plan," August 21, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "HB 927," accessed August 30, 2017
- ↑ The News and Observer, "See the proposed NC Senate map," August 20, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Senate Bill 691," accessed August 25, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "House Calendar," August 25, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "SB 691," accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, "Covington v. North Carolina: Order," October 26, 2017
- ↑ Greensboro News and Record, "GOP leaders object to using outside expert on redistricting maps," October 30, 2017
- ↑ American Lens, "Special Master Imposed by Court on NC Redistricting," October 31, 2017
- ↑ United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, "Covington v. North Carolina: Special Master's Draft Plan and Order," November 13, 2017
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Republican lawmakers upset with Stanford professor’s plan to fix gerrymandering," December 1, 2017
- ↑ Winston-Salem Journal, "'Special master' submits final N.C. redistricting maps," December 1, 2017
- ↑ WRAL.com, "Redistricting hearing signals coming end to map-making saga," January 5, 2018
- ↑ United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, "Covington v. North Carolina: Memorandum Opinion and Order," January 19, 2018
- ↑ WRAL.com, "GOP legislators ask altered North Carolina maps be delayed," January 21, 2018
- ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "North Carolina, et al. v. Covington, Sandra L., et al.: Order in Pending Case," February 6, 2018
- ↑ The New York Times, "Supreme Court Issues Partial Stay in North Carolina Voting Case," February 6, 2018
- ↑ WRAL.com, "Supreme Court says some, but not all, new legislative districts can be used in 2018 elections," February 6, 2018
- ↑ The News & Observer, "After Supreme Court ruling, NC gerrymander challengers turn to state court for relief," February 7, 2018
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Wake-Mecklenburg maps stand as GOP drew them as candidates file for office," February 12, 2018
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Another redistricting lawsuit filed in NC — this one over Wake election districts," February 21, 2018
- ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 All About Redistricting, "North Carolina," accessed April 20, 2015
