Public Service Announcement 1: Three Keys to End Gerrymandering in North Carolina and the Country
It's time to do the right thing and end the Two-Party System. I say that as a Democrat running for Congress in NC. Gerrymandering and voter preferences show why.
People in my District, the state of North Carolina, and frankly, the whole country feel hopeless in the face of gerrymandering and polarization. If you read the news, it is scary.
However, there is a way to break the cycle that no one is talking about. Actions can be taken to help stop gerrymandering, regardless of how U.S. House districts are drawn.
How and why could this be the case? Particularly when maps are drawn blatantly in favor of the Republicans in a state like NC, or even others like Texas. There are three key reasons why. The first is that trends in voter registration in NC and across the country reflect the fact that “party ID” is not as strong as it once was, creating an opportunity.
In every state where gerrymandering occurs, including NC, the maps are drawn only to favor one of two parties…However, in North Carolina, independent voters outnumber both Democrats and Republicans. They are listed as unaffiliated when they register to vote in my state.
According to publicly available voter registration data on the NC State Board of Elections Website, there are 2,938,831 registered independents vs 2,310,564 Democrats, and 2,303,558 Republicans in this state.
The number of Democrats in North Carolina and Wake County has decreased dramatically, particularly over the last year. On October 12, 2024, Wake County had 290,903 registered Democrats. One year later, that number shot down to 278,496 registered Democrats. My own party lost over 12,407 voters in the last year, despite a second Trump term, blatant Republican power grabs, federal government chaos, and record-breaking fundraising for the NC U.S. Senate campaign. Wake County is often viewed as a “liberal stronghold” in the eyes of many. CNN, for example, examined the county several times on election night in the 2024 Presidential race.
The number of registered independents across NC has also grown during that same period. In October 2024, there were 2,925,342; a year later, that number rose to 2,938,831. On the surface, independents gaining 13,489 registered voters may not sound like a lot, but that’s a significant margin. Former President Biden won Georgia by only about 12,000 votes in 2020, and some NC General Assembly races come down to even smaller margins like 500-2000 votes.
The second key reason is that there is a real, viable solution that Democrats and Independents can both collaborate and build towards to stop gerrymandering. One that has the support of over 200 political scientists around the country, which is my field of expertise, Proportional Representation.
Proportional representation is an electoral system that elects multiple representatives in each district in proportion to the number of votes they receive.
The U.S. currently has a winner-take-all system. In contrast, proportional representation uses multi-seat districts with representation allocated in proportion to votes. For instance, if NC District 02 were a six-seat district and a Democratic Party candidate won 51 percent of the vote, they would be expected to win three of the six seats, rather than 100 percent. The other three seats could go to an independent, smaller party, or even a Republican candidate if they win a high enough threshold of voters (in most cases, around 20-30%).
Other changes would help to ensure proportional representation fixes gerrymandering correctly, such as increasing the number of members in the U.S. House of Representatives, which has remained stagnant for nearly a century. You can read more about that in my Interactive Community Policy Memo.
In most other democracies, building coalitions through proportional representation is the norm. In comparison, the U.S. is an outlier that uses a flawed winner-take-all system where two major parties are in an endless battle over who controls the maps. Proportional Representation renders the maps largely irrelevant, because most groups tend to have at least one elected official representing their viewpoint in government.[1]
Why is no one talking about proportional representation? The answer may depend on who you ask…but if you are asking me. I think it is because America’s two-party system is broken and effectively acts as one party, offering voters only two options through typically limited primaries.
Proportional Representation, if done correctly, could allow voters to choose between different options for each party (like a primary). If a party or an independent candidate receives enough overall votes, that party/candidate would receive a representative in Congress.[2] Whereas now in Congress, regardless of your affiliation, if you lose, you’re SOL.
The third key to stopping gerrymandering is to stop the “Us vs Them” messaging of both major parties, and the dangerous levels of polarization in North Carolina lead to voters feeling disenfranchised and like they don’t have a voice. If you have doubts about whether Democrats and Republicans use Us vs Them messaging, look at the social media posts of party leaders in this state. You will see it right away. This messaging style plays into Donald Trump’s hands.
Critics would say that passing proportional representation legislation for the U.S. House of Representatives requires an Act of Congress. I am running for Congress because that is exactly my goal, and I want to build enough votes for it by 2026 or 2028. With a new President, if necessary, we can finally give North Carolinians something to hope for. Enacting proportional representation only requires a simple majority in Congress and a presidential signature or a veto override. Everyone benefits from proportional representation, and that’s why it is central to my policy platform.
Democrats can start building support for Proportional Representation right away because the eligible voters who would benefit are already in place, as independents and smaller parties together now surpass Republicans nationwide. Democrats could lead an informal coalition focused on community aid and selecting candidates who support proportional representation in Congress. You can learn more about this strategy in my blog post about a proportional representation Memorandum of Understanding.
It’s time to do the right thing and end the two-party system, regardless of our party identity, because it is harmful, toxic, and disenfranchises voters.
Americans, especially North Carolinians, should have multiple options at the ballot box to represent them in Congress and state legislatures. I say that as a Democrat running for Congress in NC District 02 because I must stand up for voters, objectivity, and doing what is right, not what establishment party leaders have done.
[1] You can also find a good explainer of how proportional representation could look and work in the U.S. with the following article from the New York Times: “How to Fix America’s Two-Party Problem.”
[2] There are indeed variations of proportional representation that use ranked-choice voting, though how it is implemented varies. What matters more frankly is that the districts are still multimember, so everyone gets a representative.