Redistricting: By-the-number breakdown

Posted on by Margaret Williams

The proposed 11th Congressional District, which includes the city of Asheville, would lose almost 9,000 registered Democrats and gain more than 26,000 Republicans, according to stats released on the North Carolina General Assembly website. In 2010, Rep. Heath Shuler, Democrat, beat Republican challenger Jeff Miller by more than 20,000 votes.

Here are some point-by-point comparisons of the current 11th Congressional District stats and the new ones in the proposed “Rucho-Lewis Congress 1” maps released today, July 1.

Population, current district: 619,177
Population, redrawn district: 733,499

Current number and percentage of Democrat voters: 189,371 (43.76%)
Number and percentage under redrawn district: 180, 496 (36.09 %)
Decrease in number of registered Democrats: 8,875

Current number and percentage of Republican voters: 156,912 (36.26%)
Number and percentage under redrawn district: 186,431 (37.28 %)
Increase in number of registered Republicans: 26,519

Current number/percentage of Unaffiliated voters: 85,549 19.77%)
Number/percentage of Unaffiliated voters in redrawn district 11: 132,487 26.49%

Total votes Rep. Heath Shuler received in 2010: 130,516
Total votes Republican challenger Jeff Miller received: 109,808
Shuler’s winning margin: 20,708

Current number and percentage of Black voters: 15,145 (3.5%)
Number and percentage under redrawn district: 13,051 (2.61%)

Current number and percentage of White voters: 409,207 (94.56%)
Number and percentage under redrawn district: 470,891 (94.16%)

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About Margaret Williams
Editor Margaret Williams first wrote for Xpress in 1994. An Alabama native, she has lived in Western North Carolina since 1987 and completed her Masters of Liberal Arts & Sciences from UNC-Asheville in 2016. Follow me @mvwilliams
View all posts by Margaret Williams →

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