Republican bastion of North Mecklenburg headed to new Democrat NC12?

Legislators in Raleigh faced with having to redraw two of the state's Congressional districts due to a Federal court order, appear to have taken a more extreme approach than many would have expected.

For voters here in North Mecklenburg that would include a big move from the current NC9 to the vastly reconfigured NC12.

Voters in Davidson may remember being part of the old NC12 that snaked its way from Charlotte along I85 up to Greensboro.  Prior to the last round of redistricting that also included picking off Davidson along the way.

In decades past that may have made some sense to include it in the old strongly Democratic 12th, due to Davidson's reputation as a liberal college town.  However, by 2010 that had changed somewhat.  Davidson, like the rest of North Meck has more Republicans than Democrats.  Independents outnumber both parties.  See here for more on that from back in 2012.

Cornelius and Huntersville were in the old 9th, long represented by Republican Sue Myrick.

With the proposed map pictured above, all that history goes out the window.

The old gerrymandered 12th becomes a compact and more sensible district completely within Mecklenburg County - including all of North Mecklenburg.  The 9th District, now includes just the southeast part of Mecklenburg and a number of counties along the South Carolina border.  It will be a much more closely contested district than the current NC9.

The newly proposed 12th is one of three heavily Democratic districts in the state - meaning many North Meck voters accustomed to having a House Republican representing them in Washington, DC will almost certainly have a Charlotte Democrat in that spot.

Another quirk of this new map is that neither Republican vying for the current NC9 nomination will live in the new NC12.  Rouco is in Mooresville and Pittenger is in the new 9th.  Also, Alma Adams who represents the current 12th district won't live in the new 12th district.

What this means is that unless the NCGA reopens filing to allow for new candidates to enter the race, the 12th is unlikely to to be represented by someone who lives in the district - a situation which is actually allowed at the Federal level.

The proposed new map throws much of the state into disarray with some equally strange circumstances going on in other districts.

One has to almost wonder if the NCGA did this on purpose to make it difficult for the Feds to approve it and put pressure on the US Supreme Court to let the old districts stand...at least for this election.