Tag Archives: 2012 Democratic National Convention

Redistricting — North Carolina

North Carolina could very well be ground zero of litigation over partisan gerrymanders in this cycle.  In North Carolina, bills changing district lines are not subject to veto by the Governor.  When they had to redraw district lines in 2016, the state legislature was brutally honest that their main criteria was to maximize the number of Republican districts — drawing a 10-3 map only because it was impossible to draw an 11-2 map.  The North Carolina courts struck down that map.  The legislature then drew a map that resulted in an 8-5 delegation that survived review.  In short, what we will see happening in North Carolina this year is likely to be the Republicans in the legislature drawing the most aggressive map that they think can survive a court challenge followed by the state courts deciding if the map was an improper partisan gerrymander.

Given that the current lines are what the Republicans drew after the previous lines were struck down in 2019, they probably represent a base map for what the new map will look like.  (The software that I use to guesstimate maps does not have these new lines as an overlay.  So I had to eyeball the lines from the map.  There are a lot of split counties so the below combines districts with split counties together rather than trying to guess exactly how much each district is over or under the new average district — i.e. the target number.  In addition, as noted in previous posts, as the official county, city, and precinct populations have not been released by the Census Bureau yet, this software uses the last population estimate from the Census Bureau which will be somewhat off.)

Over in the eastern part of the state, the First District (lean Democrat) and the Third District (solid Republican) are a combined 5,000-10,000 over the target number for a fourteen-district map.  In other words, there might be a minor adjustment of where the lines are in Pitt County (currently split between the two) and some of Vance County (currently split between the First and the Fourth) will get bumped into the Fourth (which will then need to shed some population to the south and west). Continue Reading...

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Donald Trump’s Bad Day

This day started out bad for Donald Trump.  He went to bed with President Obama having gotten under Donald Trump’s skin by calling out Trump’s wanna-be authoritarian tendencies.

And the day has only gotten worse.  On the one hand, Divine Providence/Nature has followed through on what everyone thought was possible when the Republicans named Jacksonville as their back-up site for the RNC.  This is the current five day forecast for Tropical Depression 13:

While a lot can change in five days (and five day forecasts have a good margin of error), there is a real possibility that the RNC will be dealing with a hurricane striking Florida on Monday when there convention is supposed to start.  Hurricanes have been a recurring problem for the Republican Convention multiple times in the past four cycles.  Of course, nobody would think to be concerned about a hurricane hitting Florida in late August. Continue Reading...

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Biden to give acceptance speech in Delaware

Well, hopefully they give Milwaukee the convention in 2024. Word is that only Wisconsin Dems will be in Milwaukee in 2 weeks.

Meanwhile, after giving up on both Jacksonville and Charlotte, Trump has, of course, floated giving his acceptance speech from the White House, which, of course, is totally improper, and likely illegal.

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GOP gives up on Jacksonville convention

Well, this was predictable:

President Trump announced Thursday he’s canceling the Jacksonville, Florida, portion of the Republican National Convention next month, citing the raging coronavirus crisis.

Speaking from the White House briefing room, Mr. Trump said delegates will formally nominate him in Charlotte, North Carolina, but he did not announce where his speech will take place. Much of the convention had already been moved from its original site in Charlotte to Jacksonville. Continue Reading...

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GOP Jacksonville money woes continue

Raising money for a last-minute convention that may not happen is not so easy:

Republicans are scrambling to raise millions of dollars after President Donald Trump moved most of the event from Charlotte. They say they’ve received several millions in commitments toward a fundraising goal of $20 to $25 million, but declined to be more specific.

Convention fundraising typically occurs over a span of two years. But after Trump clashed with North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper over his refusal to allow a full-fledged convention, Republicans launched a new multi-million-dollar drive in order to pull off a separate event in a different state. Continue Reading...

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Jacksonville convention causing headaches for GOP

I mean, none of this could be predicted, right?  First, the Times goes deep on the money problem:

The abrupt uprooting of the Republican National Convention from Charlotte to Jacksonville has created a tangled financial predicament for party officials as they effectively try to pay for two big events instead of one.

Tens of millions of dollars have already been spent in a city that will now host little more than a G.O.P. business meeting, and donors are wary of opening their wallets again to bankroll a Jacksonville gathering thrown into uncertainty by a surge in coronavirus cases. Continue Reading...

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Dems move Milwaukee convention to convention center, delegates need not travel

It will be the first Democratic convention in a convention center since 1984 in San Francisco, and the first major party convention in a convention center since the GOP in San Diego in 1996:

The Democratic National Convention will move out of Milwaukee’s professional basketball arena, and state delegations are being urged not to travel to the city because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, party officials said Wednesday.

Continue Reading...

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GOP moves main convention activities to Jacksonville

Trump gets his unmasked convention:

The Republican National Committee announced Thursday that President Trump’s renomination speech and other convention festivities will move to Jacksonville, Fla., from Charlotte, after the original site refused to go along with Trump’s demands for a crowded large-scale event amid the coronavirus pandemic.

…. Thursday’s official announcement caps off an extraordinary search for a last-minute convention site after Trump tweeted on Memorial Day that he wanted to move the convention to a city that would allow him speak in a fully filled arena. The RNC also indicated it did not want to require masks for Trump’s speech. Continue Reading...

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GOP targeting Jacksonville for Trump 2020 convention speech

Republican Governor? Check. Republican Mayor? Check. What’s not to like:

Republicans expect to move their national convention from Charlotte, N.C., to Jacksonville, Fla., a shift planned after President Trump told officials in North Carolina that he did not want to use social distancing measures aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus, according to three senior Republicans.

The decision could change, the Republicans cautioned, but as of now, officials are on track to announce the new location as early as Thursday. Continue Reading...

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GOP looks to split convention activities

Because President Trump requires the a full, non-mask wearing, packed to the rafters, convention, GOP convention organizers are scrambling:

Now, after a high-stakes and public feud with Democratic officials in a state he won four years ago, Mr. Trump and the Republican National Committee are moving to largely shift convention proceedings, including the president’s acceptance speech on the final night, out of Charlotte. After a call with the R.N.C., state chairmen officially told delegates that they should hold off on purchasing airline tickets to Charlotte for the late-August event.

…And the R.N.C., for now, is hoping to soften the blow to business owners in North Carolina by blaming the governor and trying to still keep a portion of the events in the state. Continue Reading...

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