Last week came the bad news that North Carolina may actually not get a new Congressional seat in the next round of redistricting. We're pretty much right on the edge.
That's not a huge shock, even though we remain one of the fastest growing states in the country, since we just barely got a new seat the last time around.
One positive I can see if we don't get another one: maybe our redistricting process could stay out of the court system for a change next time around! Somehow I think it'll find its way there one way or another.
Right now the Congressional delegation is 8 Democrats and 5 Republicans. I have a hard time seeing Democrats doing a whole lot better than that. If NC does get a 14th seat and Democrats still control the process, they may be better off using that power to play defense than trying to create another Democratic seat.
Namely, the 7th district and 11th districts, represented by Democrats Mike McIntyre and Heath Shuler would be somewhere between borderline and Republican favored whenever those guys move on. The 2nd and 8th districts are by no means inevitably Democratic seats either. The most useful thing for Democrats to do should the 14th seat become a reality may well be to shore up what they already have to ensure those four seats remain in Democratic hands, rather than getting greedy and trying to push the balance to 9-5. Not every election is going to go as well for the party as the ones in 2006 and 2008.
But it may be a moot point...we shall see.
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