About 20 Western North Carolina residents shared their views on the N.C. General Assembly’s House and Senate redistricting proposals at a July 18 public hearing at A-B Tech. The vast majority of them lambasted the House proposal as GOP gerrymandering designed to give Republicans an electoral edge at the expense of Democratic candidates and voters. Here’s a sampling of the people who came out and their views.
Photo by Jonathan Welch
Tag: election
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Hard hearing: Residents blast redistricting proposal
“Insane.” “Biased.” “Cynical.” Those are just a few of the words outraged Western North Carolina residents used during a July 7 public hearing to describe a proposal to move most of Asheville to the 10th Congressional District, leaving roughly two-thirds of Buncombe County in the 11th District.
With tears in her eyes, Athena Blakely said her severely autistic children divide their time between her home and an alternative family living center that the new maps would place in a different district from her home. Cecil Bothwell (left) and Lindsey Simerly (right) listened to her tell her story. Photo by Jonathon Welch
Commissioners may counter state-mandated election changes with referendum
Faced with recently passed state legislation mandating that the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners switch to district elections, the commissioners may counter by holding a referendum on the way the board is elected, Chair David Gantt tells Xpress.
Rep. Shuler reportedly considering athletic director job at UT Knoxville
Tony Basilio, host of the The Edge radio program on WVLZ radio in Knoxville, TN, is reporting that Western North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler is considering taking a job as the athletic director of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he gained national attention as a top quarterback in the early 1990s. What do you think? Does this seem like a job that Rep. Shuler would potentially leave his congressional seat for?
Balancing act?
Depending on whom you ask, a recent change to Buncombe County's election law is either a blatantly partisan Republican dictate from Raleigh or a much-needed adjustment to restore balance and fairness to local government after an unduly long period of Democratic rule. Ratified by the state Legislature May 19 after House and Senate votes that […]
Buncombe commissioner elections bill passes Senate, will become law
The North Carolina Senate passed a bill May 18 to expand the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners from five to seven members and mandate district representation in place of the current at-large elections.
Local Matters: Talking about the local GOPs new chair Henry Mitchell
In this week’s Local Matters podcast, Xpress News Editor Margaret Williams talks to reporter Jake Frankel about the election of Henry Mitchell as the new head of the Buncombe County Republican Party.