WRAL Accuses Democrats of Gerrymandering 2020 Maps

Editorial: 2020 Senate maps are “still gerrymandered,” helping explain Republican win

The 2020 maps were drawn by Dem mapmaking expert and changed via only Dem amendments, so it must be the Democrats who gerrymandered

Raleigh, N.C. — The WRAL editorial page today leveled a bold accusation against North Carolina Senate Democrats, accusing the caucus of gerrymandering the 2020 Senate maps to help secure a Republican majority.

The WRAL editorial says Senate Republicans “[won] a majority of seats in a still-gerrymandered legislature.”

Of course, Republicans had zero say in the 2020 Senate maps. They were drawn by the Democratic Party’s mapmaking expert, University of Michigan professor Dr. Jowei Chen. A configuration of the Democratic Party expert’s maps was chosen at random via a lottery ball machine. And the only changes to Dr. Chen’s map were made by Senate Democrats.

Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell), who co-chairs the Senate Redistricting Committee, said, “I can’t fathom why Senate Democrats would execute a pro-Republican gerrymander, and I hope WRAL follows up its editorial with additional reporting.”

Sen. Hise continued, “In all seriousness though, what responsibility is there for a news organization, even in its opinion section, to reflect some modicum of reality? WRAL is alleging a Republican gerrymander under maps for which Republicans had absolutely zero say. Does credibility even matter anymore?”

Here are a few statements from Senate Democrats about the maps drawn by their own expert mapmaker that WRAL alleges are gerrymandered:

• “This is the most transparent redistricting process in history. The maps produced in this room in the last several days are fair and nonpartisan.” — Sen. Minority Leader Dan Blue (D-Wake)
• “I feel as someone who has been a frequent critic of redistricting, I’m duty-bound to acknowledge these are the fairest maps and this was the fairest process to occur in NC in my lifetime.” — Sen. Jeff Jackson (D-Mecklenburg)
• “I constantly went to speak to Senator Berger about this process being open, and he assured me it would be an open and transparent process like the court said it would be. And I report that he was absolutely, totally loyal to his word.” — Sen. Minority Leader Dan Blue (D-Wake)
• “I believe these Senate maps are as good as humans can draw.” — Sen. Natasha Marcus (D-Mecklenburg)