Demographers this week have determined that due to North Carolina's growing population and demographic shift, the state is likely to get a new congressional district in the near future.
North Carolina, the ninth most populous state and home to the expanding cities of Raleigh and Charlotte, has become a prime area to move to. Demographers say that eight districts have seen their population swell by 40% since 2010.
On the state level there will be some changes in districting as well. The demographic studies also show that a large amount of rural North Carolinians are leaving their homes for more urban districts. This means that state congressional districts in rural areas will get larger and ones in urban districts will get smaller.
According to N.C. State political science professor Mark Nance this means there will be a 3 percent shift in the state legislature for the Democrats, who tend to dominate urban districts. "This is not going to flip many districts at all," he said in an interview with the News & Observer. "But certainly if that trend continues up through 2030 then the impact will be quite substantial."
According to Catawba College political science professor Michael Bitzer however, none of this matters due to the lack of "swing districts" in the state. According to him not a single one of the 13 federal districts were competitive and only 18 out of 120 House seats and 7 out of 50 Senate seats in the last election he claimed in the News & Observer.
It is unclear how the map would change with a 14th district but what is clear is that the Republican dominated state legislature would likely want to ensure that it be based in an area where a conservative could easily win.
North Carolina was a possible candidate back in 2010 for a 14th district however came up about 15,000 people shy in the U.S. census.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Monday, November 16, 2015
Terrorism Topic Dominates The 2016 Race This Week
The subject of terrorism, ISIS, and Islam came into the forefront of the 2016 presidential race this week after a series of ISIS related stories appeared in the media the previous week.
Earlier this week the U.S. intelligence community celebrated the potential death of Mohammed Emwazi, or "Jihadi John". The ISIS member is famous for his appearance in numerous ISIS videos where he executed numerous foreign hostages on camera. The Pentagon said they were "reasonably" certain earlier in the week that he was killed in an airstrike in the de facto ISIS capital of Raqqua, Syria.
A few days later the White House announced another victory against the terrorist group. This time the senior ISIS leader in Libya, Abu Nabil was killed in a U.S. airstrike.
The fight was looking so successful that President Obama announced that ISIS was "contained".
The week ended in tragedy however, when last Friday a deadly series of suicide bombings in various locations throughout Paris resulted in the deaths of at least 129 people.
The fear and shock of the incident reverberated throughout the world as the U.S. and various other countries vowed to stand with France in it's time of tragedy. France began launching a series of airstrikes on Raqqua in retaliation.
The attacks also had an effect on the 2016 campaign trail. It brought terrorism and ISIS into the spotlight and it dominated much of the Democratic Presidential Debate the next night.
The candidate's spent much of their opening statements wishing the people of Paris peace and prayers in the aftermath of what unfolded. Many of the questions focused on national security and terrorism, questions that Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state answered flawlessly. Her competitor, Bernie Sanders, who's lack of foreign policy experience showed as he gave mediocre and vague responses.
On the Republican side a wide range of voices sounded off on the incident. Jeb Bush and Rick Santorum tore into Obama's lack of a comprehensive strategy to deal with ISIS and for saying they were "contained" and vowed to respond more aggressively as president.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham warned that a second 9/11 was coming unless the country learn to take the threat of terrorists more seriously.
Donald Trump turned his fire on Syrian refugees who are fleeing the violence from the Syrian civil war. He claimed that the 10,000 that President Obama is permitting to enter the country are "a trojan horse". He also indicated that he would be open to the idea of closing all mosques across the country.
As the election season continues to heat up the issue of terrorism and ISIS is going to gradually become a larger issue. Americans will want to know from the candidates how exactly they will respond to the threats and candidates will be forced to pay attention to the issue more carefully.
Candidates will have a wide range of responses to show they are prepared to deal with the radical Islamists, whether it's Hillary Clinton citing her foreign policy experience as proof or Donald Trump appealing to the far right with his "no Syrian immigrants" policy, candidates now have a new area of policy they must explore and expand upon.
Earlier this week the U.S. intelligence community celebrated the potential death of Mohammed Emwazi, or "Jihadi John". The ISIS member is famous for his appearance in numerous ISIS videos where he executed numerous foreign hostages on camera. The Pentagon said they were "reasonably" certain earlier in the week that he was killed in an airstrike in the de facto ISIS capital of Raqqua, Syria.
A few days later the White House announced another victory against the terrorist group. This time the senior ISIS leader in Libya, Abu Nabil was killed in a U.S. airstrike.
The fight was looking so successful that President Obama announced that ISIS was "contained".
The week ended in tragedy however, when last Friday a deadly series of suicide bombings in various locations throughout Paris resulted in the deaths of at least 129 people.
The fear and shock of the incident reverberated throughout the world as the U.S. and various other countries vowed to stand with France in it's time of tragedy. France began launching a series of airstrikes on Raqqua in retaliation.
The attacks also had an effect on the 2016 campaign trail. It brought terrorism and ISIS into the spotlight and it dominated much of the Democratic Presidential Debate the next night.
The candidate's spent much of their opening statements wishing the people of Paris peace and prayers in the aftermath of what unfolded. Many of the questions focused on national security and terrorism, questions that Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state answered flawlessly. Her competitor, Bernie Sanders, who's lack of foreign policy experience showed as he gave mediocre and vague responses.
On the Republican side a wide range of voices sounded off on the incident. Jeb Bush and Rick Santorum tore into Obama's lack of a comprehensive strategy to deal with ISIS and for saying they were "contained" and vowed to respond more aggressively as president.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham warned that a second 9/11 was coming unless the country learn to take the threat of terrorists more seriously.
Donald Trump turned his fire on Syrian refugees who are fleeing the violence from the Syrian civil war. He claimed that the 10,000 that President Obama is permitting to enter the country are "a trojan horse". He also indicated that he would be open to the idea of closing all mosques across the country.
As the election season continues to heat up the issue of terrorism and ISIS is going to gradually become a larger issue. Americans will want to know from the candidates how exactly they will respond to the threats and candidates will be forced to pay attention to the issue more carefully.
Candidates will have a wide range of responses to show they are prepared to deal with the radical Islamists, whether it's Hillary Clinton citing her foreign policy experience as proof or Donald Trump appealing to the far right with his "no Syrian immigrants" policy, candidates now have a new area of policy they must explore and expand upon.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Chapel Hill Mayor Defeated
Chapel Hill, North Carolina Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt lost his reelection bid last week during Chapel Hill's mayoral election.
Kleinschmidt, who has served as mayor since 2009 and is the city's first openly gay mayor, was defeated by former school board executive and Orange county commissioner Pam Hemminger. The total vote tally was Hemminger's 54 percent to Kleinschmidt's 45 percent.
"This has been an incredible experience," Hemminger said according to WRAL. "I have really enjoyed listening to all the voices in the community and hearing people's thoughts."
Kleinschmidt says he isn't through with local politics despite the loss. He emphasized his policies that included bring more businesses to North Carolina.
"We created a vision for our community that has the potential and I challenge all of you to make sure its going to be true," he said according to WNCN.
Kleinschmidt, who has served as mayor since 2009 and is the city's first openly gay mayor, was defeated by former school board executive and Orange county commissioner Pam Hemminger. The total vote tally was Hemminger's 54 percent to Kleinschmidt's 45 percent.
"This has been an incredible experience," Hemminger said according to WRAL. "I have really enjoyed listening to all the voices in the community and hearing people's thoughts."
Kleinschmidt says he isn't through with local politics despite the loss. He emphasized his policies that included bring more businesses to North Carolina.
"We created a vision for our community that has the potential and I challenge all of you to make sure its going to be true," he said according to WNCN.
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