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North Carolina State Senate elections, 2018

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina

First federal court ruling

On August 11, 2016, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that North Carolina's state legislative district map constituted an illegal racial gerrymander. The court found that the General Assembly of North Carolina had placed too many minority voters into a small number of districts, thereby diluting the impact of their votes. The court determined that nine state Senate districts and 19 state House districts had been subject to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The court ruled that the existing map could be used for the 2016 general election, but that state lawmakers had to draft a new map during their next legislative session.[4][5]

The Senate district map used by the General Assembly of North Carolina in 2017. Districts ordered to be redrawn: 4, 5, 14, 20, 21, 28, 32, 38, and 40.
Click the image to enlarge.

Second federal court ruling

On November 29, 2016, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ordered the state to conduct special elections for the state legislature in 2017 using new state legislative district maps. The court ordered state lawmakers to redraw state legislative district maps by March 15, 2017. In its ruling, the court wrote the following:[6][7]

The House district map used by the General Assembly of North Carolina in 2017. Districts ordered to be redrawn: 5, 7, 12, 21, 24, 29, 31, 32, 33, 38, 42, 43, 48, 57, 58, 60, 99, 102, and 107.
Click the image to enlarge.

“ While special elections have costs, those costs pale in comparison to the injury caused by allowing citizens to continue to be represented by legislators elected pursuant to a racial gerrymander. The court recognizes that special elections typically do not have the same level of voter turnout as regularly scheduled elections, but it appears that a special election here could be held at the same time as many municipal elections, which should increase turnout and reduce costs.[8] ”
—United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina

State Representative David Lewis (R) and State Senator Bob Rucho (R) issued a press release on November 29, 2016, criticizing the order. In the press release, Lewis and Rucho said, "This politically motivated decision, which would effectively undo the will of millions of North Carolinians just days after they cast their ballots, is a gross overreach that blatantly disregards the constitutional guarantee for voters to duly elect their legislators to biennial terms."[9] The North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) voiced its support of the special elections following the federal order. On the federal order, Kimberly Reynolds, the executive director of NCDP, said, "The North Carolina Democratic Party applauds the federal court's order to redraw these gerrymandered legislative districts. Our elected officials should fairly represent our state, and redrawn districts will help level the playing field."[10]

U.S. Supreme Court sends case back to federal district court

On December 30, 2016, Republican legislators petitioned the United States Supreme Court to intervene and stay the district court's decision. On January 10, 2017, the high court issued an order halting the special elections pending appeals.[11][12][13]

Senate President Pro tem Phil Berger (R) and House Speaker Timothy K. Moore (R) issued a joint statement supporting the order. In the press release, Berger and Moore said, "[We] … are grateful the U.S. Supreme Court has quashed judicial activism and rejected an attempt to nullify the votes of North Carolinians in the 2016 legislative elections." Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue (D) said in a town hall in March 2017 that he was confident the special elections would happen in 2017. "I’m confident, and most of the lawyers who practice in this area [of law] …are confident that the [U.S.] Supreme Court, when they look at the case, because it has been appealed up there, will uphold the findings of the federal court that this is unconstitutional. The case law says they have no choice," he said.[14]

On June 5, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a unanimous per curiam ruling affirming the decision of the district court, which had earlier determined that the aforementioned 28 districts had been subject to an illegal racial gerrymander. However, the district court was directed to reconsider its order for special elections in 2017, with the high court finding that the district court had not undertaken the proper analysis in determining its remedy:[15]

“ Relief in redistricting cases is "fashioned in the light of well-known principles of equity." A district court therefore must undertaken an 'equitable weighing process' to select a fitting remedy for the legal violations it has identified, taking account of "what is necessary, what is fair, and what is workable." ... Rather than undertaking such an analysis in this case, the District Court addressed the balance of equities in only the most cursory fashion. ... For that reason, we cannot have confidence that the court adequately grappled with the interests on both sides of the remedial question before us.[8] ”
—Supreme Court of the United States

In reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) called a special session of the legislature to begin on June 8, 2017, to redraw the state’s legislative district maps. The General Assembly of North Carolina voted on June 8, 2017, to cancel the special session because Cooper did not have the constitutional authority to call the session because there was not an "extraordinary occasion" to call a special session, as required by the state constitution.[16]

Federal court takes up the case after SCOTUS' ruling

Before a three-judge panel could make a decision on whether to hold special elections in 2017, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina asked the two parties involved to file briefs on the issues remaining in North Carolina v. Covington. On July 6, 2017, lawyers representing the North Carolina legislators filed a brief which gave their reasons to the court for why special elections should not be held in 2017. The brief pointed to the costs associated with holding the elections in 2017, which was estimated at $20 million. The lawyers said that up to 35 of the 50 state Senate districts and 81 out of 120 state House districts could be impacted by the redraw.[17][18]

On July 27, 2017, a three-judge panel heard arguments over whether special elections should be held in 28 state legislative districts with newly redrawn maps. The plaintiffs in the case asked for the maps to be drawn within two weeks. The primary election would have been held on December 5, 2017, and the special general election would have been held on March 6, 2018. The defendants in the case argued that holding special elections between municipal elections in the fall of 2017 and the 2018 regularly scheduled elections would be too burdensome on the state.[19]

On July 31, 2017, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina issued an order denying the plaintiff's request for a special election using a new district map in 2017.[20]

“ We do not disagree with Legislative Defendants that there are many benefits to a time line that allows for the General Assembly (1) to receive public feedback on the criteria to be used in drawing the remedial districts and proposed remedial districting plans applying those criteria; (2) to revise the proposed plans based on that feedback; and (3) to engage in robust deliberation. Although we appreciate that Legislative Defendants could have been gathering this information over the past months and weeks, Plaintiffs’ two-week schedule does not provide the General Assembly with adequate time to meet their commendable goal of obtaining and considering public input and engaging in robust debate and discussion. Therefore, we prefer to give the legislature some additional time to engage in a process substantively identical to the one they have proposed.[8] ”
—United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina

The court ordered state lawmakers to enact a new district map by September 1, 2017, for use in the 2018 general election. State lawmakers had proposed a November 15, 2017, deadline; the court ruled that this "deadline would interfere with the ability of potential candidates to prepare for the upcoming 2018 election."[20]

North Carolina Legislature adopts criteria for the new map

On August 10, 2017, the House and Senate redistricting committees adopted criteria for the new state legislative district map. These criteria included the following:[21][22][23]

  1. Districts must have approximately equal populations.
  2. Districts must be contiguous (i.e., all parts of a district must be connected).
  3. Districts must adhere to county groupings.
  4. Districts must be compact.
  5. Lawmakers should minimize the splitting of precincts when drawing districts.
  6. Lawmakers should take into account existing municipal boundaries when drawing districts.
  7. Lawmakers can take into account political considerations and election data when drawing districts.
  8. Lawmakers can make efforts to avoid pairing incumbents within the same district.
  9. Lawmakers cannot take race into consideration when drawing districts.

State Democrats criticized some of these criteria. Representative Henry Michaux, Jr. (D), referring to the rule that prevents lawmakers from considering race, said, "How are you going to prove to the court that you did not violate their order in terms of racial gerrymandering? You cannot escape the fact that race has to be in the somewhere." David Lewis (R), chair of the House redistricting committee, said, "We do not believe it is appropriate given the court's order in this case for these committees to consider race when drawing districts." House Minority Leader Darren Jackson (D), referring to the criterion that permits lawmakers to consider incumbency, said "It just seems ridiculous to me that you get to say, 'We will protect the incumbents elected using unconstitutional maps." Lewis said, "Every result from where a line is drawn will be an inherently political thing. It is right and relevant to review past performance in drawing districts." Drafts of the new district maps were slated to be released in advance of expected public hearings on August 22 or 23.[21][22][24]

North Carolina Legislature draws new map

On August 19 and 20, 2017, the General Assembly of North Carolina released drafts of revised district maps for the state House and Senate, respectively. Public hearings on the maps took place on August 23, 2017, in seven different parts of the states: Raleigh, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Hudson, Jamestown, Weldon, and Washington. The proposed House map paired incumbents in four districts:[25][26][27][28]

  1. Representatives Jean Farmer-Butterfield (D) and Susan Martin (R) in District 24.
  2. Representatives John Sauls (R) and Robert Reives (D) in District 51.
  3. Representatives Jon Hardister and John Faircloth, both Republicans, in District 61.
  4. Representatives Carl Ford and Larry Pittman, both Republicans, in District 83.

The proposed Senate district map also paired incumbents in four districts:[29]

  1. Senators Erica Smith-Ingram (D) and Bill Cook (R) in District 3.
  2. Senators Chad Barefoot and John Alexander, both Republicans, in District 18; on August 20, Barefoot announced that he would not seek re-election in 2018.
  3. Senators Joyce Krawiec and Dan Barrett, both Republicans, in District 31.
  4. Senators Deanna Ballard and Shirley Randleman, both Republicans, in District 45.

On August 28, 2017, the House passed HB 927, the House redistricting plan, and sent it to the Senate. HB 927 cleared the Senate on August 30, 2017, and became law. As enacted, the state House district map paired incumbents in three districts:[30]

  1. Representatives Jean Farmer-Butterfield (D) and Susan Martin (R) in District 24.
  2. Representatives Jon Hardister and John Faircloth, both Republicans, in District 61.
  3. Representatives Carl Ford and Larry Pittman, both Republicans, in District 83.

The House map enacted by the legislature on August 30, 2017, is displayed below. For further details, see here.

The House district map adopted by the legislature on August 30, 2017.
Click the image to enlarge.

On August 28, 2017, the Senate passed SB 691, the Senate redistricting plan, and sent it to the House. SB 691 cleared the House on August 30, 2017, and was enacted into law. As enacted, the state Senate district map paired incumbents in four districts:[31][32][33][34]

  1. Senators Erica Smith-Ingram (D) and Bill Cook (R) in District 3; on August 29, Cook announced that he would not seek re-election in 2018.
  2. Senators Chad Barefoot and John Alexander, both Republicans, in District 18; on August 20, Barefoot announced that he would not seek re-election in 2018.
  3. Senators Joyce Krawiec and Dan Barrett, both Republicans, in District 31.
  4. Senators Deanna Ballard and Shirley Randleman, both Republicans, in District 45.

The Senate map enacted by the legislature on August 30, 2017, is displayed below. For further details, see here.

The Senate district map adopted by the legislature on August 30, 2017.
Click the image to enlarge.

On October 26, 2017, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina issued an order appointing Nate Persily as a special master "to assist the Court in further evaluating and, if necessary, redrawing" the revised maps. The court indicated that the redrawn maps for Senate Districts 21 and 28 and House Districts 21, 36, 37, 40, 41, 57, and 105 "either fail to remedy the identified constitutional violation or are otherwise legally unacceptable." The court did not provide a precise deadline in its order; it did, however, indicate that the "upcoming filing period for the 2018 election cycle" factored into its decision to appoint a special master.[35] North Carolina Democratic Party chairman Wayne Goodwin issued a statement via Twitter in support of the ruling: "This is a stunning rebuke of Republican legislators who refused to fix their racist maps and a collosal political failure from Speaker Moore and Senator Berger. They had a chance to fix their maps and doubled down instead — and now the courts will fix it for them." October 30, 2017, Republican lawmakers filed a motion objecting to the appointment of Persily as special master; they argued that there was ample time for the state legislature to make any court-ordered amendments to the maps before the 2018 candidate filing period. GOP lawmakers also argued that Persily might be biased because he "has a history of commenting negatively on North Carolina districting matters and working on districting matters with organizations who are allied with the plaintiffs in this case."[36][37]

On November 13, 2017, Persily issued draft redistricting plans. In the order announcing the release of the draft plans, Persily noted that "these draft plans are provided at this early date to give the parties time to lodge objections and to make suggestions, as to unpairing incumbents or otherwise, that might be accommodated in the final plan," which was due to the court by December 1, 2017. Persily's proposed maps can be accessed here.[38]

On December 1, 2017, Persily issued his final recommendations, which he said "represent a limited response to a select number of districts that require alteration to comply with the law." Rep. David Lewis (R) and Sen. Ralph Hise (R), the chairmen of their chambers' respective redistricting committees, issued a statement criticizing Persily's recommendations: "By making many changes Democrats demanded, Mr. Persily has confirmed our worst suspicions: this entire ‘judicial process’ is little more than a thinly-veiled political operation where unelected judges, legislating from the bench, strip North Carolinians of their constitutional right to self-governance by appointing a left-wing California professor to draw districts handing Democrats control of legislative seats they couldn’t win at the ballot box." Wayne Goodwin, North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) chairman, defended Persily's recommendations: "The independent, non-partisan special master had one task – to fix Republicans’ unconstitutional racial gerrymander after Speaker Moore and Leader Berger refused. NCDP applauds the special master for doing just that, and for giving voters in the affected districts a chance to pick their representatives again instead of the other way around. Republicans made this bed and now they must lie in it, and their efforts to delegitimize the special master and our judicial system are dangerous and destructive." The district court panel overseeing the case issued an order adopting Persily's recommendations on January 19, 2018. On January 21, 2018, state Republican lawmakers filed a motion requesting that the court stay its order pending an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. On February 6, 2018, the Supreme Court issued a partial stay against the district court's order. The stay applied to five revised state House districts in Wake and Mecklenburg counties. The four remaining district maps adopted by the district court (in Hoke, Cumberland, Guilford, Sampson, and Wayne counties) were permitted to stand. On February 7, 2018, opponents of the 2017 maps adopted by the state legislature petitioned a state court to intervene and order that the Persily maps be implemented in Wake and Mecklenburg counties. On February 12, 2018, a panel of state superior court judges declined this request. On February 21, 2018, opponents filed another suit in state court challenging the legality of the remedial Wake County district map. The plaintiffs requested that the court intervene to prevent the map's use in further elections.[39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]