McHenry: GOP to Draw Racial Districts to Maximize Gains

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And while Republicans hope for buy-in from local black political leaders, their greater goal is to end the careers of a handful of North Carolina Democrats who survived the 2010 GOP landslide. Reps. Larry Kissell, Mike McIntyre, Brad Miller and Heath Shuler could all be in danger of being drawn into Republican-majority districts.

Reps. G.K. Butterfield and Mel Watt — the two African-American Democrats from the Tar Heel State — likely would be entrenched in their minority districts, as would Rep. David Price from the more liberal Research Triangle area. The six GOP incumbents would remain safe.

“It’s politically probable that there will be a new minority influence district. … It’s logical based on the demographics of our state,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), who has become the point man in Congress for the state’s redistricting.

McHenry and other North Carolina Republicans defend their redistricting efforts, saying the Tar Heel State’s booming population and the surge in Republican voters — not to mention the fact that Democrats drew the current districts — justify a new map that could give the state nine Republicans and four Democrats in Congress.

“Republicans should pick up three seats under any fair and legal map,” McHenry said. “That is huge. No other states in the nation would gain as many Republican seats. This would be in a state that Barack Obama won in 2008 and where we have had a Democratic governor since 1992 — the longest such period in the nation. A 9-4 delegation is pretty good and would attempt to avoid the risk of a bad year for Republicans. Clearly, Reps. Kissell and Miller are serving their final term.”

Politico

So it sounds like North Carolina will have 13 Congressional representatives who aren’t accountable to the people they are representing because they won’t be in any danger of losing their cushy House seats no matter how they vote.  For all the bitching the Republicans have done over the years about how the Democrats gerrymandered things, you can cut through the hypocrisy with a butter knife.

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