THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702230183
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 54 lines
Five years ago, black legislators in the General Assembly fought through a long hot summer to create two congressional districts structured so black candidates for the first time in this century could win seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
And, as planned, the new districts sent blacks to Congress: Rep. Eva M. Clayton, D-Warren, from a revised 1st District in the northeast, and Rep. Mel Watt, D-Mecklenburg, from the new 12th District that stretches from Durham to Charlotte.
But on Monday a crowded state Senate hearing room will see the opening skirmish of a legislative battle that threatens to take the slim black voter edge away from at least one of the new districts.
The meeting will consider a proposed new redistricting law offered by the state Senate last week.
The redistricting became necessary after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the revised 12th District was redrawn with too much reliance on race in fixing the voting boundaries. Watt's district has 54.7 percent white voters and 43.8 percent black, but Watt won comfortably in his earlier campaigns.
``How do you write a bill that can elect blacks without considering the racial makeup of the district?'' asked state Sen. Frank Ballance Jr., D-Warren. Balance is the Senate's deputy president pro tem, and will be one of the strategists at the hearing. In his new role in the Senate, Ballance is expected to emerge as the most powerful black leader in the state.
Meanwhile, Clayton, who became the first black and the first woman from North Carolina to go to the U.S. House in this century, worked over the weekend to line up state and federal political experts to attend the 11 a.m. session in Raleigh.
On the table will be the Senate's proposed new redistricting which would change the 12th District in a way that could damage Watt's hopes in the future.
The 12th District was singled out for the Supreme Court's attention and it will be subject of most of the Senate's redistricting efforts.
The court held that the emphasis on race in the 12th district was unconstitutional.
``My major concern with any proposed map is to ensure that the redrawn map is fair and also provides an opportunity for minorities to serve beyond my tenure,'' Clayton said from Washington.
Clayton said she felt sure she could win elections in the revised district.
Clayton's 1st District along the southern shores of Lake Gaston has a 52.55 percent white voting age population and 45.45 black voting age population. Clayton has won two major elections by substantial majorities.
The Senate redistricting plan is not expected to have a major effect on Clayton's district, which has functioned comfortably for most voters since it was created.
KEYWORDS: REDISTRICTING CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS