Co-Speaker of the House Richard Mor-gan is offering few specifics about his proposed district, except to say that it is not expected to be “markedly different” from the present one.
“We’ve been working night and day,” Morgan said.
Now down to the wire, the work became so intense last week that Morgan canceled a scheduled appearance at a forestry meeting on the coast. He said legislators have been meeting with people who are drawing the maps and attorneys.
“On Wednesday, we didn’t leave for lunch or for supper,” said Morgan, a Moore County Repub-lican.
Hearings on redistricting plans were held for both the House and the Senate late Thursday. However, maps of these proposed districts were not made public prior to the hearings, which may be the reason for the limited public participation.
The N.C. General Assembly is expected to be called into special session Monday for the purpose of establishing new district lines.
Morgan said the latest lines for his district encompass most of Moore County, with a few precincts designated for another district. That’s about the same situation existing for his present District 52 and for District 51, served by Rep. John Sauls, a Lee County Republican.
The new district may shift a few different precincts into another district that includes one or two other counties, Morgan said.
Morgan’s present district includes 19½ precincts in Moore County. Sauls’ district has the other 3½ precincts — all of Vass, Little River and Cameron and half of the Carthage precinct. Morgan was able to keep the half of Carthage that includes the courthouse and thus the seat of county government.
In addition to the 3½ precincts from Moore County, Sauls’ district includes all of Lee County and some precincts in Harnett County.
The reason for splitting the counties is simple: population. The solution is not so easy.
The loss of the 3½ is due to Moore County’s population growth over the 10 years prior to the 2000 census. The county’s latest population of more than 76,000 means that it is too populous to constitute a single-county district. To even out population across the state, district map makers are required to juggle people figures here and there, taking one or two precincts to make up enough people for another district.
“If you want to know the truth, I hate to lose any part of Moore County, but I don’t see any way to do it without taking away a few precincts,” Morgan said.
Critics from both political parties have complained that redistricting committees have worked out plans that protect incumbents and in some cases punish recalcitrant members of each party by designing districts that pit incumbent against incumbent.
Morgan has made a few enemies since he was elected co-speaker of the House earlier this year. Several Republicans who were displaced from power when he was elected speaker have made it clear that they are working to unseat him.
But similar complaints have been heard from both parties.
Morgan said some rumors about district plans are untrue. He dismisses one rumor that would divide Moore County into more than two districts and put part the county in a district with Democratic-leaning Richmond County. Incumbent Rep. Wayne Goodwin, a Richmond County Democrat, is expected to relinquish his House seat to run for state labor commissioner.
Instead, Morgan said his new district will be about the same, but the Moore County precincts assigned to another district may be different from those presently in Sauls’ district. He said the precincts in question may include some of the present District 51, but others may be shifted.
Regardless of the selection, he said, the precincts will be in the northern or eastern edges of Moore County.
This week’s special legislative session will mark the third time that the General Assembly has voted on districts in the past two years.
The first effort early last year failed when dissident Republi-cans took the matter to Superior Court, where a judge ruled that the redistricting plan was unconstitutional because it split too many counties. Judge Knox Jenkins prepared a plan of his own for legislators to consider. The General Assembly then passed a plan that more or less followed the judge’s plan.
The state Constitution requires that redistricting plans be adopted by the legislature, not the judicial branch of state government. Now lawmakers must convene again to vote on districts, which must be done before a new year rolls around and it’s time to elect legislators for a new term of office.
Regardless of which plan is adopted, the U.S. Department of Justice must sign off on the maps before it can be implemented. This is a requirement of the Voter Rights Act.
