Beaufort split in new House districting plan | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

   Cook vs. Spear in District 6 and Williams vs. Sanderson in District 3 or Williams vs. Spear in District 6

    As the General Assembly approaches "final" decisions on redistricting, Beaufort County on Wednesday became one of the districts to be rather radically changed from what had been proposed. In the last map Beaufort was whole in District 6. Under the new plan, which appears to be headed for adoption, the county is once again split, more or less along the river.

    But the details are even more interesting. The new proposal calls for Gilead Precinct, south of the river, in which current Rep. Bill Cook lives, to be included along with much of northern Beaufort County in District 6 along with Washington County, Hyde and Dare counties. This plan will pit Cook and current Rep. Tim Spear, D-Washington County, in the same district. Spear would have been in the older district also, but he would have had to face Cook in all of Beaufort and part of Craven. Under the new plan it is assumed by some observers to be more favorable to Spear with Hyde and Dare. However, Spear did not fare well in Dare last time. Republican Bob Steinburg carried Dare with 54% of the vote compared to Spear's 46%. He carried Hyde over Steinburg 65% to 35% but garnered only 1053 votes in Hyde. In heavily Democrat Washington County, his home county, he carried it with 74% to Steinburg's 26%, taking 3356 votes.

    In the new Sixth District there will be 83,234 residents, contrasted to the ideal of 79,462. The district would be 77% white and 17.49% black with 6.36% Hispanic residents. The voting age population will be 82% white and 16% black. It would contain 48% Democrats, 27% Republican and 24% unaffiliated. John McCain carried the district in 2008 with 56% of the vote compared to Barack Obama's 43%. But Perdue carried it with 55% contrasted to Pat McCrory's 42% while Richard Burr polled 53% to Bowles' 45%.

    But the split does not follow the river exactly. It puts Washington Ward 2 and Ward 3 (P. S. Jones) in District 3 and splits Wards 1 and 4 between Districts 3 and 6. District 3 would have about 3,000 Washington City residents while 123 Ward 1 Washington residents would be assigned to District 6 along with 2,372 from Ward 4. 2,042 residents of Ward 1 would go with District 3 and 925 from Ward 4 would go to District 3.

    It appears from the rough maps (lack of detail) that Arthur Williams would be in District 3 which is currently represented by Rep. Norm Sanderson, a Republican. That conclusion cannot be absolutely determined from the maps currently posted because Williams lives very close to the line and it will take more detailed maps to determine whether he would be in District 3 or District 6. If he is in District 6 that could pit him against Spear in a Democrat primary unless one or the other switched parties. District 3 would be 74% white and 20% black with 44% of the registered voters being Democrats, 33% Republican and 23% unaffiliated.

    So both districts are "swing" districts and not "safe" for any party. Who wins is based on the individual candidate and turnout, with the balance of power resting with the unaffiliated. Thus, some will argue that the Tea Party is more important in these two districts than in some others. You can review the maps and the numbers in more detail by clicking here.

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