Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Orange County and Democratic women are redistricting targets, with extensive gerrymandering and districts placing Democrats against each other. Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Orange County will lose excellent and experienced representation if the General Assembly approves these maps. New district maps have Democratic Sen. Ellie Kinnaird from Carrboro against Bob Atwater from Chatham County. Democratic Reps. Joe Hackney and Verla Insko are in the same district.
Maps influenced by a Republican consultant, apparently paid with our tax money, are drawn with the purpose of eliminating almost half of the 22 Democratic women representatives and three Democratic women senators. Although both Republican and Democratic women representatives comprise only about 25 percent of the House and women senators are only about 11 percent of the Senate, apparently this low representation of a majority is considered too high by those drawing the maps.
Other Democratic women representatives targeted include Diane Parfitt against Rick Glazer; Deborah Ross against Grier Martin; and Sen. Linda Garrou and Rep. Jennifer Weiss, who are moved into strong Republican districts.
This attack on women’s rights and equal representation reminds me that women could not vote when my wonderful mother was born in 1911.
Ina Kimbrough
Chapel Hill