According to a report by News Radio 570 (WWNC), Rep. Tim Moffitt says’s he’ll introduce an amendment that would keep Buncombe County intact and in the 11th Congressional District. The WWNC report adds that Sen. Tom Apodaca is “surprised at the uproar over the plan,” which would remove most of the city of Asheville from U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler’s 11th District and put it in U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry’s 10th.
“Apodaca points out that right now, having just Democrat Heath Shuler representing the area in Washington isn’t doing much because the Democrats aren’t in power in the House,” WWNC reports. “Moffitt [disagrees and] says his plan would even out the numbers some other way. He adds that there has probably been enough of a public outcry over the proposed redistricting maps that an amendment to keep Buncombe in the 11th district will pass.”
Read more at wwnc.com.
Read more: http://www.wwnc.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=122546?feed=122546&article=8817704#ixzz1RtfJeumR
Good cop, bad cop?
If Apodaca is genuinely “surprised at the uproar,” then he is just plain stupid. Since I don’t actually believe that he is stupid, he has to be being horribly disingenuous. He must think we are stupid! Asheville is Buncombe County’s County Seat, the largest town in Western North Carolina, and the hub of tourism and business in WNC. Apodaca wants us to believe that placing Asheville in a different congressional district than the rest of Buncombe Co. and the rest of was not expected to be seen as outrageous? What?
I’ve got to say I was not particularly surprised by the move, but that doesn’t make it any less outrageous. What surprises me more is that Moffit seems to be on the right side on this one I thought he was on an anti-Asheville crusade. It does appear to split his own constituents in two different congressional districts. Maybe the old boys club up in Woodfin told him that they were no longer amused.