Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM SEPTEMBER 18-24, 2019 UCW 9 Conservative Republican Dan Bishop won this month's special election for an open North Carolina House of Representatives seat in Con- gress, averting a Democratic capture of a predominant Republican Party district. But the narrow victory did not erase questions about wheth- er President Donald Trump and his party's congressional candidates face troubling headwinds approaching 2020. The special election has two storylines: First, Democrat Dan Mc- Cready, 36, was banking on the 9th District's suburban moderates to carry him over the top. He narrowly trailed in an election for the seat last November that was later invalidated after evidence sur- faced of vote tampering. McCready won suburbanites in the eastern outskirts of Charlotte, where about 25% of the 9th District's eligible voters live. The rest of the district stretches along the rural South Carolina line to Bladen County in the east, where Bishop was a big winner. Voters in the other large city, Fayetteville, are mostly in the eighth district. The second storyline reflects what has become known as voter disenfranchisement, confusing voters with constant change. North Carolina's 9th Congres- sional District has been centered in Charlotte for decades. It was reconfigured to include portions of Robeson, Cumberland and Bladen counties when Republicans took control of the state Legislature in 2010. Over the last 60 years, greater Fayetteville has been chopped up to be part of the 1st, 4th, 7th, 8th and 9th Congressional Districts. Most of that time Cumberland County was part of the 7th District, which stretched from Wilmington to Lumberton and Fayetteville. Democratic members of Congress Alton Lennon, Charlie Rose and Mike McIntyre represented the district from 1957 to 2015. Rose served for 24 years. McIntyre suc- ceeded Rose when he retired and served for 18 years. Rep. David Rouser became the 7th District's first Republican member of Con- gress since Reconstruction. But by 2012, Cumberland County was no longer part of the 7th District. Congressman David Price's 4th District became more heav- ily Democratic as a result of 2012 redistricting, in which the more Republican areas of western and southern Wake County were removed, along with northern Or- ange County and most of its share of Durham County. They were re- placed by heavily Democratic por- tions of Alamance, Cumberland, Harnett and Lee counties. It was a significant Democratic party ger- rymander. In 2010, the Republican Party had taken control of both the North Carolina House and Sen- ate — the first time it had held a majority in the Senate since 1898. The Republican Party was abet- ted in their victory by the man dubbed "The Third Koch Brother" — Art Pope, who heads up both the family-owned Variety Wholesalers and the $150 million Pope Family Foundation. Pope's organizations poured $2.2 million into 22 state legislative races, winning 18 for an 82% return on his investment. The Republicans' big win happened just in time for redistricting, allow- ing them to consolidate their gains. Republicans took full advantage of the opportunity, gerrymander- ing the state map to pack as many Democrats and African American voters as possible into three con- gressional districts. Those efforts paid off in the 2012 congressional elections. North Car- olina's congressional delegation changed from majority Democratic (7-6) to majority Republican (8-5), a pickup of two seats. The drama continues as the general assembly deals with court orders to stop racial gerrymandering. Dan Bishop 9th District winner by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS Dan Bishop GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN SPA Detoxifying Slimming Body wrap $70 Brightening Vitamin C Facial $65 Aroma Therapy Massage $60 Fa back in Love with your Skin Book appointments today! • 910.483.0186 • thesanctuaryatcedarcreek.com 1965 Cedar Creek Rd. Fayetteville, NC 28312