In map fight, court blocks candidates from filing for NC congressional seats
Candidates wanting to run in North Carolina’s newly redrawn U.S. House districts may have to wait a bit longer than they thought to file for office.
The filing period for candidates running for statewide office in 2020 opens Dec. 2 at noon. But a panel of state court judges will meet that day at 9 a.m. to consider the next steps for North Carolina’s congressional map.
The court said Wednesday evening that no one can file to run for U.S. House until the court says so. The state’s primary election is scheduled for March 3.
State lawmakers redrew the state’s congressional map for 2020 last week after the panel of judges suggested it was likely to rule the current map an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.
Republicans hold 10 of the state’s 13 seats in the U.S. House. Under the new map, Democrats are expected to gain two additional seats, making an 8-5 split. But challengers in the court case indicated immediately after the maps were passed that they would challenge them again.
Some of the biggest changes in the map as compared to the current map: One district is wholly contained in Wake County, and Greensboro and Asheville are no longer split into multiple districts.
The court could approve the map, send the plan back to the legislature for a second opportunity to draw a map, make its own modifications to the map, or appoint a special master, an independent expert who would redraw the districts, said U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat and a former North Carolina Supreme Court justice.
The National Redistricting Foundation is supporting a group of North Carolina voters who have filed the lawsuit. It is associated with the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and former Attorney General Eric Holder.
“It really ought to be given to a special master,” said Marina Jenkins, the group’s litigation director.
Jenkins said the state board of elections has indicated it could proceed with March 3 primary for the U.S. House seats if a map is finalized by Dec. 15.
“All parties on all sides are working toward that goal,” she said.
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This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 6:25 PM with the headline "In map fight, court blocks candidates from filing for NC congressional seats."
