Two Black incumbent senators in eastern North Carolina have no chance of winning reelection in their newly drawn districts, according to an analysis by UCLA political scientist Jeffrey B. Lewis, who testified for Republicans in the Superior Court redistricting trial this month. 

Three-judge panel to rule on plaintiffs' claims of illegal gerrymandering next Tuesday The trial on North Carolina redistricting ended with the bombshell that blew a hole in Republican claims of transparency, and included testimony from an array of mathematicians that computer programs could rarely, if ever, reproduce GOP-approved plans.

The reach of safe syringe programs in North Carolina has expanded dramatically since the legislature passed a 2016 law allowing health officials to provide sterile syringes, new needles, and naloxone kits to reverse opioid overdoses.   The programs are meant to reduce the spread of blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis, and refer people to substance abuse treatment.

This year started with the promise of new COVID-19 vaccines that could push North Carolina and the country beyond the pandemic. It ends with the rise of a new COVID-19 variant that once again has the state and the world on guard. COVID-19 cases spiked after last year’s Christmas holiday. Infections caused by the delta variant, which spread more easily than earlier ones, led to another surge this summer that filled hospital beds.

Advocates predict an influx of patients from other states if Roe vs. Wade falls, but that could change if the GOP expands its legislative majorities North Carolina is one of the states that might see an increased demand for abortion services if the U.S. Supreme Court weakens or overturns the landmark 1973 decision that established the constitutional right to abortion. 

With 2022 primaries looming, plaintiffs hope to secure speedy review by the state Supreme Court State courts are wading into the bare-knuckle fight over new congressional and legislative districts that Republicans say are just fine, but Democrats and outside evaluators say are heavily skewed to Republicans’ advantage.

Despite concerns, most Senate and House Democrats vote to approve $25.9 billion plan  The first complete state budget in nearly three years will give teachers and state employees raises retroactive to July 1, spend nearly $1 billion to expand broadband, and billions more on new buildings.

Several Democratic lawmakers of color now reside in districts that strongly favor Republicans   More than a half dozen of North Carolina’s Black legislators are in danger of losing their seats, as Republican legislators decided not to draw election districts to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act as legislatures had in the past. 

Maurice Holland Jr. laughed ruefully when he heard that a Republican Senate redistricting leader used Holland’s comments to justify a newly drawn congressional district.   The district, which includes part of the Sandhills, that Republicans drew is the opposite of what Holland wanted.

Voters ask redistricting mapmakers to respect community ties  One of the proposed maps for new congressional districts lumps parts of Wake County with North Topsail Beach, 135 miles away, in Onslow County. That same map creates a district by taking slivers of Triad counties in the Piedmont – the western third of Guilford and the southern quarter of Forsyth – and extends it west, with a little, crooked finger...