The General Assembly approved new district maps on Thursday, Feb. 17, meeting the deadline set by the state Supreme Court and possibly moving the 2022 election process forward. Filing for the election opened in December but was halted due to a challenge of the district maps approved in November 2022. Although a trial court upheld the maps, opponents took their appeals to the state Supreme Court saying they maps were unconstitutional and favored Republicans due to gerrymandering.
The Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 4 that the maps were unconstitutional and ordered the drawing of new maps. The maps drawn last week were submitted on Friday to the trial court’s panel of three Superior Court judges (two Republicans, one Democrat). The panel has a deadline of noon Feb. 23 to approve the maps or adopt maps from the plaintiffs. Applications for a stay must be filed with the Supreme Court by 5 p.m. on Feb. 23. An appeal could delay the election process again.
Map changes
The new maps will replace those previously approved in November 2021 and thrown out due to the Supreme Court ruling on Feb. 4.
House District 120 represented by Karl Gillespie (R-Macon) does not change in any version of the maps and includes Macon, Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties.
Senate District 50 represented by Kevin Corbin (R-Macon) will see a slight change with the addition of Transylvania County and Haywood County being split over two districts. Prior to redistricting, Corbin’s district had included all of Haywood County.
The U.S. Congressional district map will also create some changes with the addition of Avery County and part of McDowell rather than the whole county as with the 2020 election map. Under the maps approved in November, Macon would have been in a newly named District 14, but the maps approved last week retain the District 11 designation. District 14 would now include Cleveland, Gaston, most of Rutherford, and a section of Mecklenburg County.
The following is a comparison of the districts currently under consideration, those approved in November 2021 and the maps used for the 2020 elections.
February 2022 maps
House District 120 – Macon, Cherokee, Clay and Graham.
Senate District 50 – Macon, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Swain, Transylvania and part of Haywood.
Congressional District 11 – Macon, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Swain, Haywood, Transylvania, Henderson, Buncombe, Madison, Yancey, Mitchell, Polk and parts of McDowell and Rutherford.
November 2021 maps
House District 120 – Macon, Cherokee, Clay and Graham
Senate District 50 – Macon, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Swain, Transylvania, part of Haywood.
Congressional District 14 – Macon, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Swain, Haywood, Transylvania, Madison, Buncombe, Henderson, Yancey, Mitchell, Avery and most of Watauga.
Election 2020 maps
House District 120 – Macon, Cherokee, Clay and Graham.
Senate District 50 – Macon, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Swain, Haywood.
Congressional District 11 – Macon, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Swain, Haywood, Transylvania, Henderson, Buncombe, Madison, Yancey, Mitchell, Polk, Avery, McDowell and part of Rutherford.
Candidate filing reopens
Depending on what the trial court decides about the district maps on Feb. 23, and if the current election schedule is maintained, candidate filing will reopen at 8 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 24 and continue through noon on Friday, March 4.
When filing closed on Dec. 8, the following candidates had filed and will not need to re-refile if they choose to run for the same office.
NC Senate District 50 – Kevin Corbin (R)
County Commission District 1 – Don Willis (R)
County Commission District 2 – Gary Shields, Richard Lightner, Danny Antoine, Danny Reitmeir, Gregg Jones (all Republican)
Clerk of Superior Court – Justin Stamey (R)
Register of Deeds – Todd Raby (D)
Sheriff – Bob Cook, Dereck E. Jones, Chris Browning, Brent Holbrooks, Clay Bryson (all Republican)
House Rep. Karl Gillespie (R-Macon) said he will run for re-election representing House District 120, but he did not file before the Dec. 8 court order postponing the filing period for all races.
The statewide primary will be held Tuesday, May 17 with early voting starting April 28. The deadline to register to vote is April 22.
With so many candidates running for sheriff it may be difficult for one candidate to get the required 30% of votes, according to Gary Tallent, Macon County Board of Elections deputy director. In that case, the second highest vote getter can request a runoff. If there is a runoff it would be held July 5 or July 26 if there is also a runoff involving a federal race.