jmh123

OK, just saw this at CV: https://www.wral.com/nc-supreme-court-ok-s-new-voting-maps-for-2022-election/20153515/ "Breaking news" and all that. So what will Clay do?

I'm more than a little confused as the tweet says all the appeals have been denied, and the tweet and the article give a time of around 10:30 pm, but the article he links to is an edited version of earlier articles and is contradictory. Even the blurb below the link to the article isn't up to date. On the other hand, the tweeter wrote the article, lol, and it contains this paragraph which I don't recall seeing in previous versions: It'll be interesting to see if, now that he's tweeted, he cleans things up a bit, changes the lede and fixes the contradictions. At any rate, it sure sounds like filing will begin tomorrow morning. And yes, I did post earlier and delete it. I wanted to do a bit more research and work this out, but as I said before, I think this is it.

I think we will know very soon. The state Supreme Court seems determined not to delay the primary vote again. The conundrum for Clay is that the most recent maps, including this one and the one that this one replaced, have separated Wake County from the so-called "Price" district, which is the 4th, and the 4th district now includes more typically Republican voters. It runs all the way to Virginia. Still winnable, but closer. District 2, where there is already a well-liked Democratic incumbent, includes only the northern half of Wake County, and the other half of 2 is southern Wake combined with a bunch of counties that lean Republican. Also, lots of decent competition in the 4th. It's not looking like the cake walk he thought it was going to be. ETA: Source for my response to the delay question is this:

Hey, good questions. I'm learning as I go and I live here. It was the Supreme Court of NC that just ruled. What they ruled was that the maps must be redrawn, but not by them. I was hoping they would at least say it must be an independent agency, but what they did was to say the legislature must try again, and then the new maps will be submitted to the same lower court that last time ruled that the prior maps were clearly gerrymandered but that wasn't unconstitutional. The Supreme Court said, oh yes it is unconstitutional when it's this extreme. Whatever the lower court decides this time will without a doubt be appealed again by whichever side. Clay's district is amazingly and totally already skewed Democratic already. It's one of the few that is. That's the problem. Most of them are skewed Republican even though North Carolina is about 50 50. Just like the national party, the NC Republicans think land should vote, not people, so the urban areas, which lean Democratic, should be the only (and highly populated) Democratic districts. Clay's is one of those. That's why the main contest for him is in the Democratic primary. As for whether the primary will be delayed again, it hasn't been decided yet. It was delayed previously by the lower court. The legislature tried to vote in a delay, but the Democratic governor vetoed that. Trouble with all the delaying is that the Republicans have no problem with delays--they already have what they want. They don't care if we get to vote at all. The main thing they did with the new districts was to fix it so that 4 prominent, current black NC legislators would not be able to keep their seats, while also making sure that even more districts were Republican. An interesting nerdy tidbit: the Republicans actually created a district that was supposed to a "gift" to one of their main leaders, so he could move from the NC legislature to the US Congress, but Madison Cawthorne lickety split changed districts to run in that one. The state leader decided there was no way he could beat Cawthorne in a primary, as the Republicans in part of the state are very Trumpy, so he decided to stick with running for the state position again. Yes, to add to the confusion, there are state senate districts, and state congressional districts, as well as districts for elections for the US Congress. (Are the last two the same? I dunno.) The US Senate is a state-wide vote and a bunch of national money will go to that race. Thom Tillis, now US Senator, used to be the leader of the NC Legislature. More nerdy stuff. The lower court in this case is majority Republican. The Supreme Court is majority Democrat. Both of these are elected positions, and the Republicans want to delay until after the elections, when they hope to regain a majority in the Supreme Court so (they hope) it will rule in their favor in the future.

For the supernerds among us, the complete court ruling, including the criteria any new maps proposed must meet. https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/413PA21.pdf

I think he'd probably say that it's likely that the approximate boundaries of his district will remain the same, and that's the main thing he cares about. He's probably right about that. I wish they'd squeeze his over a bit so that I was in it. I've been in and out of David Price's district so often it makes my head spin, and in the new maps I'm out. I don't think that'll happen though. Given the Clay we're getting to know lately, he'd also probably say not to worry about things we can't control. I suck at that. ETA: I am glad the maps were thrown out, I should emphasize that. I was just hoping that they'd order that they be drawn by an independent commission. But yay for the main ruling!!

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article257975758.html Lots of nuts and bolts details in the article about what happens next--bottom line, it isn't over, and who knows when it ever will be. I remember a time when we didn't vote for the state legislature at all, which was fine with the Republicans, since they controlled it. This could end up with delay after delay, since the Republicans are still in control in both the US house and the state legislature, and are happy with the status quo. The date of the primary Clay is running in could well be postponed again. (and again and again)

beanerknits, glad you introduced yourself!

Here's an article with a pretty good update on what we can expect from the courts regarding redistricting in NC, with a Clay mention thrown in to boot. The main topic is whether primaries in NC will be delayed for a second time, as the Republicans had hoped (and voted for). Let's hope not. Depending on a favorable ruling, an independent entity could be appointed to do the redistricting, which would be a blessing. Enough with this mess! https://www.wral.com/cooper-vetoes-republican-effort-to-delay-primary-election/20100717/

Hello Vox, welcome!

Woo hoo - anybody home?

I tried; the video wouldn't start for me. I was hoping maybe they'd show excerpts of the show or something. ETA: a ha - looks like I can watch it anytime on YouTube now. Will try to do that soon, if for no other reason to catch a glimpse of the hair.

Wishing a happiest of birthdays to ldyj!!!!

So sorry, ldyj. I've been using the pandemic as an excuse to delay. And delay. And delay some more.

Here's a local news article. https://www.wral.com/durham-school-of-the-arts-actress-wins-national-award-for-best-performance/19775480/ I find the article confusing. Did both teens from North Carolina win the national award?* I don't think so, but they're certainly giving the guys (in this case, the local winner) close to equal time. Here's another article: https://abc11.com/triangle-rising-stars-elena-holder-joshua-messmore-durham-performing-arts-center/10889734/ *OK, I watched the embedded video. Bryson Battle of Charlotte did win the national award, so both NC teens won, but only the local, Triangle winner of best actress did. I would have liked to hear more from her and about her than we got from either source.

The female contestant in the "Rising Stars" competition that Clay hosted won the national award! — Durham, NC (@DurhamNC) July 16, 2021 Does anyone remember what she sang in the contest?

Ah ha - just got it. Trust busting. Busting trusts.

I thought couchie got it exactly right. Along these same lines, and then some, there's this, from twitter:

See the pretty new banner ldyj made!! ♥️♥️♥️

Lordy, everyone in NC is already running for that seat, including people who were running in 2020 for Senate or Congress and basically just never stopped. I think the Dem party has already selected its chosen candidate, which is sad, because the chosen one this go-round couldn't keep his pants zipped and lost to Tillis. I think it's too late for Clay to put his hat in, and I'm sure he knows that. Two top candidates of the moment are 1) Erica Smith, who lost the primary to Mr. Zipper last year; she's a senator in the General Assembly, sharp, and multitalented. She campaigned her butt off last time (traveled all over NC) and just kept going. And 2) Jeff Jackson. He is also a state senator. He's a veteran, an officer still serving in the National Guard; great at social media and keeping people informed. He's the chosen one of the moment, and not a bad choice, although I'm rooting for Erica. There will probably be more folks jumping in; early days yet, but Burr announced his retirement last year, so it isn't a surprise.

All is Not Well Don't Come, All Ye Faithful (sorta stole that one) Let it Go, Let it Go, Let it Go

Good instincts. I just saw this today and thought, wow, he's a lot like Clay in his journey to acceptance and his messy cargo pants approach to gay style - lol. https://www.salon.com/2011/11/16/the_coming_out_story_i_never_thought_id_write/

Of course I went on and messed around some more. I think I'll quit now while I'm ahead. Banner is back; added back a little padding to the left of the text in posts. This reply window looks entirely different, but I like it. Oh, and a "search" box mysterious reappeared, this time between the menu bars up top, so I took the search option that was directly on the menu away again. If anyone sees anything else, holler.