FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nolan Fraver | NCFP Communication Director
[email protected]

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Forward Party State Chair Patrick Newton took to Capital Tonight on Spectrum News on Monday, August 18 to voice his Party’s opposition to gerrymandering, the act of drawing the boundaries of electoral districts to give one political party or group an advantage over others.  Gerrymandering has been a recurring issue in North Carolina politics since the early 1990s, with both Republicans accusing Democrats accusing each other of manipulating electoral district boundaries to gain a competitive advantage—often on racial or economic lines.

Newton’s comments on the program reaffirmed the Forward Party’s support for recent bipartisan calls to end partisan gerrymandering nationwide, echoing the sentiments of Forward Party Executive Chair Kerry Healey, who called the controversial practice “undemocratic,” while aligning with national calls to ban it on a federal level, highlighted by the recent announcement by Congressman Mike Lawler (R–NY) to introduce such legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Speaking with Capital Tonight host Tim Boyum, Newton condemned the political gamesmanship surrounding the ongoing redistricting efforts in Texas as well as gerrymandering across the country, including in North Carolina, where both major parties have manipulated district lines for decades. His remarks underscored the Forward Party’s belief that gerrymandering is not a red or blue problem—it’s a democracy problem.

“I don’t hold republicans in Texas any more or less accountable than any other legislature across the country. Look at Illinois…and what you just mentioned about California. Whatever party is in power in that particular state is going to use gerrymandering as a tool to better their own ends, and they’re going to put that above what’s best for the people of their state.”

This sentiment sharply contrasted the comments made just days prior by Newton’s counterparts from both major parties in North Carolina, including Democratic State Party Chair, Anderson Clayton, and Republican Party Chair, Jason Simmons, who both pointed the finger at their opponents across the aisle for being the real perpetrators behind the problem and for their role in exacerbating the issue.

When asked if she supported the broader democratic ‘if-you-can’t-beat-em, join-em’ mentality with regards to gerrymandering in democratically controlled states across the country, Clayton quipped that she couldn’t blame those in her own party, adding that their actions were a justifiable response to Republican efforts in Texas. Simmons shot back by saying democrats are being disingenuous in their positions, exemplified by their exodus from Texas to heavily gerrymandered states like Illinois, New York, and elsewhere.

“That’s their job,” Newton said, “to be opposed to the other one. That’s what we’re trying to fix. I’m not any more upset at the Republicans than Democrats for gerrymandering. We just don’t want them to do it.”

The Forward Party’s end goal—among other electoral reforms—is ending gerrymandering altogether at the federal level. During his Capital Tonight segment, Newton alluded to his views that while a top-down federal solution isn’t necessarily ideal, the patchwork of 50 different state-level approaches may prove insufficient to prevent partisan gerrymandering in some parts of the country and will inevitably continue to fuel polarization and erode public trust in government.

While he sees the necessity of a solution ‘on a national level,’ he referenced the Party’s efforts to work with local officials, non-profit organizations, and interest groups across the state to implement feasible, common-sense solutions at the state level that could serve as a template for the rest of the country. Concepts have included instituting non-partisan, independent districting commissions responsible for drawing district maps, or using advanced mathematical and machine learning techniques to remove human bias from the map-making process altogether. These initiatives would remove the current power from partisan hands in the general assembly, create more contiguous and geographically sensible district boundaries drawn based on objective criteria and data-driven insights, and promote principles of transparency, neutrality, and fairness throughout the process.

While these efforts are in their infancy, they have the support of citizens, community leaders, and representatives from across the political spectrum and are aligned with the legislation introduced by Rep. Lawler to ban gerrymandering at the national level, which promotes the Forward Party’s vision of an electoral system in which voters choose their leaders—not the other way around.

“North Carolina has lived through decades of redistricting abuse by both parties,” Newton added. “The solution isn’t to let the other side take their turn. The solution is to fix the system so no one can manipulate it again.”

The North Carolina Forward Party invites voters to join the movement for fair maps and real representation by visiting www.ncforwardparty.com.