North Carolina Supreme Court Delivers a Massive Blow to GOP Redistricting Hopes – Opinion

As the midterm elections approach, redistricting continues to be a contentious issue. Republicans in North Carolina are now facing a huge blow. A 4-3 vote by partisans saw the Supreme Court reject the 11-3 R. to D. map. It ordered a replacement be submitted before February 18th.

It’s here: The NC Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision along party lines strikes down the GOP congressional maps that could have resulted in an 11R-3D split. They also order NC’s General Assembly submit new maps no later than February 18th. https://t.co/aYO2e88Jny pic.twitter.com/8fG3aAqgmx

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) February 4, 2022

This ruling is so bad! It’s so bad that Democrats could actually end up gaining a seat over the old map, despite Republicans controlling the legislature and the redistricting process. That’s because the court has ordered a “partisan fairness” standard be used, which would presumably split the seats via some kind of statistical makeup of the state.

It is a tragedy because New York is finalizing a large Democrat gerrymander which would eliminate three Republican seat and create the split 22-4 D. to R. Illinois, Maryland, and California already have Democrat seats in their mix thanks to far-reaching gerrymanders.

In Republican states, courts are stepping in to keep the GOP from fighting fire with fuel. Recently, Alabama’s GOP-drawn maps were overturned. The same is true for North Carolina. The deck is being stacked for Democrats before the first vote is counted, and they are going to be in a position to possibly hold the House now (though, still not likely) — all because gerrymanders are being allowed in all the blue states but while they are being shut down in red states. It’s maddening.

There are still ways to gain ground, if Republicans want them. They mainly reside in Florida or Missouri. Texas already made a mess of it, passing a map to make Democrats happier, adding only one GOP seat. Florida has the chance to draw an R-to-D 20-8 map (Gov. Ron DeSantis has been putting pressure on the legislature in order to make it happen. It becomes even more possible when the conservative Florida Supreme Court rejects FL-5. This is what we expect. Missouri holds all of the power for the GOP, allowing them to create a secure 7-1 gerrymander.

There’s also the possibility of appealing the North Carolina decision to the US Supreme Court, which Republicans should absolutely do.

It may sound crazy, but Republicans could appeal to SCOTUS arguing that the court decision overturned the power of the state legislature in setting the rules for elections to the House under Art. 1 s 4. Arizona Ind. would need to be overthrown by SCOTUS. Redist. case /1 https://t.co/4HxB4jWOG0

— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) February 4, 2022

There is no excuse for the GOP to back down, certainly not after we’ve seen the redistricting advantage swing firmly in favor of Democrats via these various court rulings. Yes, Democrats are likely to lose the House no matter what in November, but they could regain control quickly if Republicans don’t do everything in their power to solidify a map that is winnable for the next 10 years. This is the right time to scorch earth. It is not acceptable to accept anything less.