North Carolina gerrymandering bill pits black judges against other incumbents

[Virginiá]

"It's an admitted attempt to get more Republican judges on the bench."

https://thinkprogress.org/judicial-gerrymandering-north-carolina-56f15b92f01f/

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[PoliticalShelter]

Isn't this what the Virginia GOP tried to do back in 2011? They were scared of losing power in the changing state so they tried pulling every lever in the book to game the system to let them keep their grip. This is what politically threatened state parties do when the trends are against them. See: Alabama Democrats in the early 2000's, NC Dems before 2010. I wouldn't be surprised if the Georgia GOP pulls NC GOP tactics here before too long when the writing on the wall becomes clear that metro Atlanta is gonna eventually start sinking them at the statewide level.

Isn't a big part of the reason the NC GOP has been successful in its blatant power grabs, is that it ha s a veto proof majority in congress? In other "emerging democratic states" like Arizonia and Georgia, don't have veto proof GOP majorities, so they wouldn't be able to pull stunts like these if democrats began to win governorships and senate elections and began to threaten the state GOPs hegemony.

[Nyvin]

The NC GOP is realizing they can't depend on statewide election wins anymore,  so they try to consolidate power to districts that the legislature draws so that they can gerrymander them.

[Virginiá]

Isn't a big part of the reason the NC GOP has been successful in its blatant power grabs, is that it ha s a veto proof majority in congress? In other "emerging democratic states" like Arizonia and Georgia, don't have veto proof GOP majorities, so they wouldn't be able to pull stunts like these if democrats began to win governorships and senate elections and began to threaten the state GOPs hegemony.

It is. They have overrode Cooper a few times on party-line votes. However their super-majority is pretty thin, and if 2018 even comes close to a wave environment, it's probable they lose their super-majority in the state House. It's only a few seats, after all. No doubt that this is why they are rushing through so many changes to the state government, even to the point of canceling the 2018 judicial primaries. They are afraid of having to actually bargain with Democrats in what is a pretty evenly split state.

[Virginiá]

Another article about this:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/us/north-carolina-republicans-gerrymander-judges-.html

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This sounds like a perfectly concise view of the NCGOP's actions:

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And then there is this:

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They know they will likely control the legislature for some time, hence why every time they want to shift power around, they move it to the General Assembly.

It's hard to find a state more partisan and more obsessed with power than North Carolina. They are so willing to reshape the government just to consolidate power that they don't seem to care what it looks like or how efficient it is, so long as they have the final say.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The North Carolina GOP is a revolting disgrace to humanity.

[NewYorkExpress]

If the Voting Rights Act were still around, this would be a textbook violation.

Those other incumbents after all, are not black, and the districts are majority white.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

If the Voting Rights Act were still around, this would be a textbook violation.

Those other incumbents after all, are not black, and the districts are majority white.

The VRA is still around, very much so. What you are referring to is the court striking down one of its sections.

[NewYorkExpress]

If the Voting Rights Act were still around, this would be a textbook violation.

Those other incumbents after all, are not black, and the districts are majority white.

The VRA is still around, very much so. What you are referring to is the court striking down one of its sections.

So for all intents and purposes, it's dead, just legally on the books to collect dust.

[Virginiá]

So for all intents and purposes, it's dead, just legally on the books to collect dust.

There are still Section 2 lawsuits being brought, and racial gerrymandering cases I thought stemmed from an interpretation of the VRA (although I could be wrong on that count). Also the Voting Rights Act still has Section 3, which allows a court to "bail-in" a city/count/state into pre-clearance if they are found to have intentionally discriminated. Pasadena, TX just got bailed in this year, and Texas a whole is being eyed for that due to copious amounts of VRA violations of late. North Carolina is another possibility if they keep trying to game election laws.

[Dr. MB]

If the state legislature had their way NC would be a GOP dictatorship