The North Carolina Democrats suffered a small setback in their court case regarding gerrymandering, as WRAL.com reports:
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday upheld without comment a lower court’s ruling that North Carolina lawmakers illegally relied too much on the race of voters when they drew 28 state House and state Senate districts in 2011.
But the justices vacated the court’s order to immediately redraw the districts and hold a special election this year, saying other remedies should be considered.
It’s really thin lemonade for the GOP, though, and their statement, to my mind, reflects that:
“We are encouraged the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the lower court’s politically-motivated attempt to force a special legislative election in 2017 and its efforts to ‘suspend provisions of the North Carolina Constitution,’ ignore voters’ constitutional right to elect representatives to two-year terms and effectively nullify their votes from 2016,” Rep. David Lewis , R-Harnett, and Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, said in a joint statement.
SCOTUS agreed that gerrymandering occurred, but thinks the remedy is too severe. An honest GOP may have acknowledged the loss or even the moral failure behind the loss. This reaction sounds more like a victory celebration.
Within the North Carolina GOP the toxic brew is, at best, retaining its efficacy. As it seems likely that a redraw for the 2018 elections will be required, they may find themselves nipped in the bud by an electorate impatient with GOP incompetency.
