New U.S. House maps keep Asheville whole; could put Black Mountain in district for speaker
Newly proposed congressional maps could slice off Buncombe County's second-biggest municipality, creating a district for retiring North Carolina state House Speaker Tim Moore, if he wants to run for Congress.
A high-ranking Republican state senator from Western North Carolina confirmed Oct. 20 ― two days after the new maps came out ― that one of the two proposals would take Black Mountain from its current 11th District now covering most of WNC. The town would become part of a newly redrawn 14th District to the southeast under that proposal.
"The population of Black Mountain is 97.8% in the 14th District," said Sen. Warren Daniel who is on the redistricting committee and who represents three counties, including Black Mountain. He noted that "83.9%" of the population of the much smaller town of Montreat would remain in the 11th.
The maps have been widely criticized by Democrats and redistricting reform groups for lines that would likely shift the split of U.S. House seats from seven Democrats and seven Republicans to 10-4 or 11-3 in favor of the GOP, a move the critics say does not reflect the purple nature of North Carolina, which sees statewide elections go to Republicans and Democrats.
Daniel declined additional comments, except to say he thought map "CBP-5," which moves Black Mountain, and map "CCJ-1," which instead puts half of Rutherford and Polk counties in the 14th "are good proposals" for the redistricting committee to consider. "It will be up to the committee to decide," the senator said.
Current 11th District Rep. Chuck Edwards declined to comment Oct. 20 on which map he preferred.
"As it’s a state matter, we’re waiting to see the final map," said spokesperson Maria Kim.
A committee vote on the maps could come early next week. The whole N.C. Senate and N.C. House, both controlled by the GOP, would then have to approve the plans, something leaders want to do by the end of October. Candidate filing for the 2024 election is set to begin in early December.
Representation or power?
Black Mountain Mayor Mike Sobol called the redistricting plans "a continuation of the fraud."
"Are we really trying to get representation of the people, or are we just trying to keep our political power, meaning the Republicans," said Sobol, who serves on the non-partisan Town Council but is a well-known Democrat. "They don't really care about equal representation of people. They simply want to continue their power."
Near the eastern edge of Buncombe, Black Mountain has a population of 8,502, according to the latest U.S. Census estimate. Asheville has nearly 94,000 people, while the third-largest town, Woodfin, has 8,072.
The maps became public Oct. 19, almost a month after Moore announced he would not run again, relinquishing the top post of the state House which he has held since 2015.
"Although he has not declared his plans, many expect Speaker Tim Moore to run," said Western Carolina University political science professor and redistricting expert Chris Cooper.
The Citizen Times reached out to the speaker, who lives in Cleveland County.
Prior to the 2022 election, General Assembly Republicans sought to create a new 13th U.S. House District for a Moore candidacy. But then-WNC Congressman Madison Cawthorn announced he would run for the 13th, seen as a political stepping-stone because it included parts of Mecklenburg County, home to the state's most populous city, Charlotte. Moore dropped his bid.
But the Democrat-majority N.C. Supreme Court ruled the districts unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders and mandated new maps, which were to be used for one year.
Then Republicans were elected to a majority of the court in 2022 and justices, in an unusual move, revisited the ruling and said the state constitution actually didn't limit partisan gerrymandering. That freed up Republican legislators to return to more GOP-friendly maps and reduced options available to Democrats to sue to block boundaries.
The maps would barely change the partisan balance in WNC's 11th District, which was won by the Henderson County Republican Edwards, 54% to 44%, over Democratic County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara of Asheville in 2022.
The voters now living in the 11th gave 55% of the two-party vote to Donald Trump in 2020, according to Cooper.
"Neither of the proposed districts would shift NC-11 into different partisan territory," the WCU professor said. "Under both potential congressional maps, approximately 56% of the two-party presidential votes in NC-11 were for former President Trump."
Statewide election data attached to the Republican proposals — results designed to determine partisan performance — indicate one of the Senate's proposals would create 10 districts that appear to favor a Republican candidate, three that favor a Democrat and one that could be considered competitive. In the other proposal, Republicans would appear to be in a good position to win 11 of the 14 seats. It wasn't immediately clear which of the plans — or a hybrid — will advance in the Senate.
House and Senate redistricting committees also filed separate legislation Oct. 19 that would rework their own districts — the House for its 120 seats and the Senate for its 50 seats.
Among high-ranking Democrats denouncing the districts was Katie Dean, party chair for the 11th District, who said the maps represented "serious mistakes" by Republicans and that the partisan advantage baked into the districts would encourage extremism and less compromise.
"Republican candidates will have to be more extreme and more hateful to hold their seats," Dean said. "Where are the districts for those willing to work together? Where are the seats for those who may have voted Republican in the past but who believe they have been left behind by a Republican Party growing more extreme and more beholden to the rich and powerful everyday?" she said.
More: NC Republicans set to draw new congressional lines; Asheville to get new district
Answer man: Did gerrymandering pick WNC's U.S. House winner? 15 counties in 11th District
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: New U.S. House maps keep Asheville whole; Black Mountain cut out?
