To carve Asheville out of the 11th Congressional District is completely irrational.
My campaign will work with all WNC Dems to fight this gerrymandering. We’ll oppose it on every level.We look forward to supporting a united legal challenge. And, I urge Congressman Shuler to join us in this.
Asheville is , after all, the economic hub of this region with 40,000 daily commuters who follow the river valleys to work each morning. Asheville is the medical center for the region for the same reason: rapid transportation can be a matter of life and death. Asheville is the legal nexus as well, with its Federal Courthouse serving all of the western counties and is also the banking and business core of the region.
More compelling is the fact that fully one third of the residents of WNC live in Buncombe County!
The French Broad River inexorably links Transylvania, Henderson, Buncombe and Madison Counties. The economic ties of our region are all a function of our mountain watersheds. The Land of Sky Regional Council, which includes those four counties, is not an artificial construct—it is a planning district dictated by geographic reality. Our railroads and highways follow the river valleys due to geographic necessity as well. 
By jamming Asheville into the 10th Congressional District, and adding Avery, Burke, Caldwell, and Mitchell counties to the 11th, the Raleigh Republicans have removed the region’s media center, the source for the news that lets people see what government is doing in order to cast intelligent votes.
For voters in those north-central counties, Winston-Salem and Charlotte are the major media sources, while Morganton and Hickory are the closest economic centers. Meanwhile, Asheville’s news media will suddenly be reporting on congressional news related to Gastonia, which is clearly a part of the greater Charlotte metropolitan area.
The GOP can pat itself on the back, believing that its cookie-cutter tomfoolery is long deserved payback for past Democratic sins, but what they’re doing is showing us that all they care about is power—not the people of our state. They don’t want the people of WNC to have a representative in Washington who stands up for our regional interests. That should be a matter of concern to Republicans and Democrats alike in these mountains. They don’t want us to have a champion in Congress who will fight for our jobs, our health and our lives.
Of course, their stated goal is to create another “safe” Republican seat in the 11th District. But contemplating that outcome should also be extremely unsettling to WNC voters.
Republicans have long been trying to scuttle Social Security and Medicare. They are the same people who brought us NAFTA, CAFTA and WTO deals with China—sending our jobs out of the country. The Republican’s apparent overarching goal is to divert American wealth to the wealthiest, while middle class workers in WNC lose their jobs, their homes and their health care.
This is the time for us to unite as Democrats—blue dog, yellow dog, middle of the road. We are share one common bond—we are Mountain Democrats!
Let’s show Raleigh Republicans that we may vary in our political opinions, but when our home turf is threatened we’re come together to defend our mountain homes.
I feel that challenging these maps constitutes an absolute obligation to my constituents, both as an Asheville City Council member and as a candidate in the 11th Congressional District. These western mountains are my home, yesterday, today and tomorrow.
We’re with you
Cecil, thanks for your comments on this and future work. I believe this is the most pressing issue for WNC this year. See what California is trying. We would do well to follow their lead.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/video-all-over-the-map-behind-the-scenes-redrawing-the-political-landscape/10212/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=pbs#.ThGTbNES7uA.facebook
Let’s not forget however that it was Clinton that signed Nafta into law.
The worst aspect of this redistricting , according to what I have heard, is that thr dividing line meanders through West Asheville, leaving residents unsure of what district they will beliong in. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of a city being divided in this manner. It shows That the GOP has a hostility towards Asheville and Buncombe, and all who disagree with them.
Cecil, I couldn’t agree more . I think this suggested new district would be a detriment to all mountain folks, Democrat and Republican, for the many reasons you mentioned.
Districts are able to decide on whether they care to be annexed; residents should have the right to decide this redistricting attempt.
from the NC Constitution:
ARTICLE II
LEGISLATIVE
Sec. 3. Senate districts; apportionment of Senators.
(3) No county shall be divided in the formation of a senate district;
Cecil, I agree with you totally, on just about everything you have ever said since you were running for Asheville City Council, and I could not vote for you. Now I can, even though I live in Madison County. I will, and my whole family will.
Pingback: On Redistricting | The Wild West
I just do not understand how this is legal. It is ridiculous to add only Asheville to another voting district. Even the pic on the map look so cheesey. Tell me there is something we can do about this!!
Re: Mr Kirbach’s pointing out that such a redistricting would be unconstitutional in NC, I would think that the Repubs will shift the line to pull all of Buncombe out of 11. That will still accomplish their aim, to bury Asheville’s Democrats in a heavily Repub district.
The question is, How can we stop them?