A congressional redistricting proposal approved Thursday by the North Carolina House of Representatives would split Lee County between the 13th and 8th congressional districts, ensuring that the county would have new representation in Washington, D.C. after the 2020 elections. The state senate is expected to approve the map today.
Lee County is currently represented by Republican Mark Walker of the state’s 6th Congressional District. The new map puts what appears to be about a third of western Lee County in the 13th, a seat currently held by Republican Ted Budd, while the rest of the county would be in the 8th district currently held by Republican Richard Hudson. At a quick glance, both seats appear to be safely Republican.
Walker’s new district would be one of two that Democrats see as flippable if the new maps become law.
The new maps don’t appear to have many split counties – 11 in total – but Lee and all of its surrounding counties are among them. Harnett County would be split between the 7th and 8th districts, Moore would be split between the 8th and 9th districts, and Chatham would be split between the 4th and 13th districts. Candidates for Congress will file for election beginning on Dec. 2.
According to The Washington Post (subscription required), “the new map will be in use only for one election cycle — 2020 — because yet another map will be drawn in 2021 following next year’s Census, after which North Carolina is expected to pick up at least one congressional seat due to population growth.”
