Democrats raise specter of redistricting

Matthew Hensley
The Laurinburg Exchange
April 19, 2010

Democratic leaders told party members that redistricting is this year's top issue, with the winner having power over voter maps for the next decade.

Redistricting is an issue that comes up every year after the U.S. Census, as state's adjust voting districts to reflect changing demographics, according to June Mabry, Democratic chairman of the Eighth Congressional District.

Those decisions will be made by whoever controls the General Assembly, she told a Scotland County Courthouse filled with Democrats Saturday at the county party's 2010 convention.

"They (the legislators) will be the ones who will be dealing with the demographic changes and redistricting," she said.

If Republicans win one or both houses, she said, they will redraw congressional districts and the state's delegation will change from blue to red in the 2012 elections and Republicans will represent the Tar Heel state to Congress for the next decade, until redistricting come up again.

Rep. Doug Yongue, a Laurinburg Democrat seeking a ninth term to his state House District 46 seat, told the convention that electing Democrats as legislators guaranteed that Democrats would hold on to its majority share of the state's congressional delegation.

"We want to increase our Democratic base in the house and the senate because the prize this year is that whoever controls the house and the senate controls redistricting," he said. "If Republicans take over, I assure you that they will be in power for another 10 years... They are going to tweak those borderlines to make sure they have a majority."

Mabry also told the crowd that Scotland County that it has a reputation for voting blue.

"You all are a Democratic performance county," Mabry said. "You believe in progress for the state, you believe in progress for the count, you believe in progress for America."

Joy Ellison, chairman of the Scotland County Democratic Party, told participants that it was important for people to back the party's nominee for any elected position, regardless of who they supported in the primary.

"After the primary, we need to be able to support those individuals fully," Ellison said. "We need to start thinking long-term with voter registration."

She also questioned why some county residents recently changed to unaffiliated, a trend she associated with dissatisfaction over health care legislation.

Ellison said obsessing over one issue was trivial, asking county Democrats to hold onto their party.

She pointed President Barack Obama as an example of how successful Democrats can be in office.

"I know our president right now has done more in one year than many have done in eight," she said. "For all the people that we lose, we need to have more, and that's just it.

Sheriff's race

The two Democratic candidates for sheriff, incumbent Shep Jones and challenger Mike Webb, spoke to the Democratic Convention about their qualifications.

Jones touted his accomplishments since being elected in 2006.

"We've laid a strong foundation at the sheriff's office and I want to continue that," he said, pointing to the Gang-Resistance Education and Training program, school resource officers and heightened drug arrests as accomplishments.

Jones said he has restored Scotland County's standing among other sheriff's offices over the last four years.

"I've built a relationship with sheriff's offices across the state of North Carolina," he said. "I've got access to any sheriff's office in any county around the state. If anything catastrophic happens in Scotland County, I can call the sheriff from Wake County, Mecklenburg County, and let them have whatever I need in the time it takes them to get here.

"That is really important and it's challenging to do because of things that had happened. I think that we worked extremely hard to put Scotland County back on the map in the way it should be represented in the sheriff's association."

Webb told the convention he did not want to talk negative about Jones, saying he would not "denigrate him.

"I think he has done a decent job."

He said Highway patrolmen are the best trained law officers in the state. He spent 28 years working as a trooper.

"We take that same test that a sheriff takes when he's certified in BLET, Basic Law Enforcement Training, however Highway Patrol training is very more intense than any local or sheriff's department in the state."

Webb also touted his own rolodex of connections.

"I know Mr. Donnie Harris, the sheriff of Wake County, and I know Ms. Beverly Perdue personally, I know the colonel of the Highway Patrol, I have a lot of people in high positions that I can get assistance with."

Webb and Jones last faced each other in the polls, when both men were challenging Sheriff Buddy Blalock in the primary, with Blalock running in third.

A number of other local candidates also spoke, including: Commissioner candidates Carol McCall, Guy McCook, Daniel Dockery, Betty Gholston and J.D. Willis; School Board candidates Mary Evans, Jennifer O'Donnell and Jimmy Bennett; and Clerk of Court candidate Phil McRae. Representatives from Cal Cunningham's senate campaign and Larry Kissel and Nancy Shakir's congressional campaigns also spoke at the convenion.