NC SEN. NATASHA MARCUS
Oct. 8. By Dave Vieser. Although the redistricting committees in Raleigh charged with drawing new district boundaries just started their map compilation work this week, early indications are that part of Senate District 41, currently held by Democrat Natasha Marcus, will be split.
“Based on the county groupings that the State Senate is using it is almost certain that part of North Meck will move into Sen. Vickie Sawyer’s district,” said GOP political consultant Andy Yates. Sawyer currently represents NC Senate District 34, which covers southern Iredell County as well as Yadkin County, areas which traditionally vote Republican.
No surprise
This change would not come as a surprise to Democrats who expected such a move after the 2020 census data came out. Marcus has been a strong representative to the extent that the Mecklenburg County GOP was unable to field a candidate to run against her in 2020.
Marcus said it’s true that some part of North Mecklenburg will have to be joined with Iredell County to create a new district.
“It will be up to the Redistricting Committee to decide how to shape the six districts within the new Mecklenburg/Iredell county grouping, accounting for equal population, communities of interest, compactness, member residences, and the other criteria adopted by the Committee,” Marcus said.
Timeline
The committees held hearings across the state during the past several weeks to receive public comment on proposed changes. As to when the maps will be finalized, there is no hard deadline.
However to stay on track for a March 2022 primary with candidate filing in December, maps for House, Senate and Congress would almost certainly have to be approved by early November.
The map drawing meetings are being streamed live with video and audio feeds available from the state Legislative Office Building’s committee rooms. Meetings can be viewed by going to www.ncleg.gov. No maps drawn outside the committee rooms will be considered. Members can work on maps from 9 am to as late as 5 pm each weekday until the process is complete.
