Will the Newly Drawn NC Maps Stand? Wiley Nickel Prepares for Run in 13th District

From preparing to run in a crowded liberal stronghold, to a possible 50-50 toss up district, NC State Senator Wiley Nickel’s race for the U. S. House of Representatives could look vastly different, should the newly drawn Congressional maps stand up in court.

You may remember our piece last month, with Senator Nickel. At that point, the battle over the Congressional maps was largely undecided. As the result of heavily gerrymandered maps drawn by Republicans, the NC Supreme Court was to decide their constitutionality. Subsequently, the NC Supreme Court ruled against the gerrymandered maps and ordered them redrawn. Now, after passing both houses in the NC General Assembly, the new maps are once again before the court.

Senator Nickel, standing by his argument for nonpartisan redistricting, says “This process has made clear that we need nonpartisan independent redistricting reform. North Carolina voters deserve a transparent redistricting process that takes politicians out of the process.” Nonetheless, candidates will be dealing with the current state of affairs in 2022’s mid-term elections.

In our interview with Senator Nickel, he informed us he plans a strong US Congressional race regardless of how the map debate ends. If nothing changes, Nickel will be preparing to run in the newly drawn 13th Congressional district (which comprises western Wake County, Johnston, Sampson, Duplin, and western Wayne counties).

The new maps create an entirely different path to Washington, D.C., for Nickel. In the previous version of the maps, he would have been competing in the 6th district primary (now, likely the 4th district again) against a crowded field of opponents, all vying for the secure Democratic seat being vacated by Representative David Price. The winner of the Democratic primary in the 4th district, will almost certainly win the general election.

However, with the new maps before the courts and Senator Nickel likely running in the 13th district, he would probably face little competition (if any) in the primary, but very stiff competition in November’s general election. Why the difference? The 13th district, as drawn, would be a toss-up between Democrats and Republicans and possibly the most competitive in the state. In 2020, President Trump (R) received 50.04% of the presidential votes and Governor Cooper (D) received 51.66% of the gubernatorial votes in the district. While the two candidates were obviously not head-to-head, one can clearly see how evenly the votes split along party lines.

Senator Nickel says, “In campaigning for the last several months, I’ve had the chance to talk to voters about the issues that really matter to them. Folks I’ve talked to are tired of D.C. infighting. That’s why I’m focused on policy goals that will make a real difference for them.”

Nickel, serving his second term as North Carolina State Senator, will be running with strong support from local leaders. According to a recent press release, he’s already been endorsed by former Congressman Tony Coehlo, Raleigh Councilmember David Cox, Wake County Commissioners Vickie Adamson and Maria Cervania, Morrisville Mayor TJ Cawley, Cary Town Councilmember Ya Liu, Morrisville Councilmembers Steve Rao, Vickie Scroggins-Johnson, Donna Fender and Anne Robotti-Smith, and many others.

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