Voter choices slim when winners make rules

Paper: News & Observer, The ( Raleigh, NC)

Date: March 1, 2006

On a recent episode of the ABC series "Boston Legal," women doffed their tops in public to protest the unfairness of redistricting.

"It's not right that I should vote and my vote doesn't count due to redistricting," said one character before she began picketing.

While there have been no such risque protests in North Carolina, a growing number of voices are being raised about how lawmakers have drawn district lines so favorable that voters have a real choice in only a handful of congressional and legislative races.

That was evident Tuesday, when the period for candidates to file in North Carolina's midterm elections closed. Most of the state's congressional and legislative races have been all but decided, more than eight months before the Nov. 7 election. The outcomes are such forgone conclusions that in 62 of the 120 state House contests and in 21 of the 50 state Senate seats, either the Democrats or the Republicans did not bother to field a candidate.

"We think we have two viable, competitive parties," said Andy Taylor, a political science professor at N.C. State University. "In statewide elections we do. But in these 13 congressional districts and in a significant portion of the 50 state Senate districts and the 120 House districts ... there really is no contest."

There are many reasons incumbents nearly always win. Incumbents -- particularly those in Congress -- have huge political fund-raising advantages, have a staff to help constituents, can hand out grants to every fire department and normally have an easier time getting on the 6 o'clock news.

But the biggest factor may be what Taylor calls "incumbent protection plans."

Every 10 years, after new census figures are released, state legislatures are required to draw new lines so that every congressional and legislative district has the same number of people. Armed with sophisticated computers, lawmakers have become adept at drawing districts that follow lines of political power and slice through neighborhoods.

Because Democrats largely control the North Carolina legislature, they have been able to draw the legislative and congressional districts. But they often cut deals to protect both Democrat and Republican incumbents.

In theory, North Carolina is evenly divided politically and should have a lot of close elections. The state has seven Republican congressmen and six Democratic congressmen. In the last congressional election, North Carolinians cast 1,669,854 votes for Democrats and 1,643,131 for Republicans.

But because most voters are segregated into Republican or Democratic clusters, only one of the 13 House seats had a competitive election in 2004 -- barely.

This time, most political observers think only two congressmen -- Republicans Charles Taylor of Brevard and Robin Hayes of Concord -- face serious challenges. But both incumbents are likely to be favored.

The three congressmen who represent the Triangle, David Price, Bob Etheridge and Brad Miller, all face opponents with little or no political experience except for Miller, who is being challenged by former Winston-Salem Councilman Vernon Robinson. Little wonder, because all three Democrats won last time by landslides over respectable opponents in a Republican year.

Among them was Billy Creech, 62, of Clayton. Creech, a Republican, served 16 years in the state House before his adversaries redrew his district and threw him in with another incumbent and old friend, Republican Rep. Leo Daughtry.

Instead of seeking re-election in 2004, Creech challenged Etheridge. Creech was outspent by a 7-1 margin. Democrats in the legislature helped Etheridge by moving parts of heavily Demo-cratic Southeast Raleigh into his district. Etheridge defeated Creech, 62-38 -- a typical margin for a North Carolina incumbent.

"It's almost impossible to defeat an incumbent unless they find themselves in trouble -- legally," Creech said.

The lack of competition, in the view of political observers, means there is less likely to be a vigorous airing of the issues -- whether it is the war in Iraq in a congressional race or the gas tax in a legislative contest. And in the view of some, it has helped polarize politics because elected officials don't have to appeal to a broad spectrum of constituents.

A number of groups from across the ideological spectrum last year backed a constitutional amendment to create an independent redistricting commission, but it didn't go anywhere.

"That's no surprise," said state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, a Democrat from Carrboro, who sponsored the amendment. "If you are the incumbent party in power you want to maintain that when the next election comes around. I feel it would be not be any different if the Republicans were in power. It is survival of the fittest. It's the nature of an organization to maintain itself."

There has been increased interest nationally in moving to a less partisan system of drawing districts. Several states, such as Iowa and Arizona already have nonpartisan commissions.

But it has been difficult. In November, California voters rejected, 59-41, a commission recommended by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ohio voters turned down a similar proposal, 70-30.

"It's a difficult issue on which to engage the voters," said Chris Heagarty, executive director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education, which backs an independent commission. "It's not a sexy issue. But if you explain the process of legislators drawing their own districts and picking their own voters, people want a better way."

(Researcher Becky Ogburn contributed to this report.)

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Researcher Becky Ogburn contributed to this report.

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Almost no contest

CONGRESSIONAL RACES

The number of competitive congressional races (defined as the winner having 55 percent or less of the vote)

1984 -- Six

1994 -- Four

2004 -- One

State Senate in 2004

9 of the 50 Senate seats had competitive races.

17 had no major party competition.

State House in 2004

10 of the 120 House seats had competitive races.

71 had no major party competition.

Author: Rob Christensen

Section: News

Page: A14