Congressman Rodney Alexander (D-LA) Has Switched Parties

"Isolate the Watt, Butterfield, and Chapel Hill districts and split up the rest, and you probably limit the delegation to 3 liberal Dems and 10 moderates/conservatives, mostly Republican."

You're assuming that Watt's 12th CD would stay the same. What if the 12th CD ran from inner-city Charlotte, through lightly-populated southern Meckenberg and Union Counties to Anson, Richmond, Scotland, Hoke, Robeson and parts of Fayetteville and black areas in other adjoining counties, which would yield a district that is around 44% black (like the current 12th CD) but is also like 8% Native American and would combine Watt's and McIntyre's home bases? That would also allow Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point to each be kept whole in a separate Republican district. The Butterfield district could remain largely as is, and a third heavily Democrat district could be drawn to include Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, combining pretty much all of the heavily Democrat areas of Price's, Miller's and Etheridge's districts; the new district would have the additional advantage of being like 40% black, so it could be argued that its creation increases the number of black-influence districts. Each of the remaining 10 districts would have given Bush over 56% of the vote in 2000, and with no Democrat incumbent representing too much of any one district, the most likely result would be the election of 10 Republican representatives.

But, of course, for such a redistricting plan to be adopted, the GOP would need to control the state legislature and the governorship, and NC Republicans would have to grow some balls. I don't know which of the two prerequisites is less likely to occur.

"Where there is one McIntyre there can be others."

But if a budding McIntyre was in a district that gave Bush 58% or 60% of the vote as opposed to 52.5% as in McIntyre's district, it would be much more difficult for him to win that first time.

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