North Carolina
How did gerrymandering begin in North Carolina? Consider Vance County – Carolina Public Press
Fourteen miles vast and 28 miles lengthy.
That was the scale of the land taken from Franklin, Granville and Warren counties in North Carolina to create Vance County in 1881, based on a historic account by the primary Vance County clerk of court docket, James R. Younger, printed within the Henderson Each day Dispatch in 1931.
Components similar to having a extra centrally situated courthouse contributed to the reassignment of land. Nevertheless, historians agree that the transfer was principally rooted in an effort to push Black voters within the current counties into one space — successfully diminishing the facility of residents’ votes.
Immediately, even because the state nonetheless wrestles with allegations of gerrymandering, the historical past of gerrymandering in North Carolina will be traced partially to the formation of Vance County itself. The county, which is northeast of Raleigh, is arguably one of many first examples of gerrymandering in North Carolina.
“You’re taking sufficient Republican African American voters out of Granville County and Franklin County, and people two counties would grow to be majority white, and they might grow to be democratic. You’d write off Vance County,” mentioned Mark Tempo, North Carolina Room specialist for Granville County Public Libraries.
Throughout the time, Tempo defined, Black voters sometimes swung Republican.
Then, white North Carolinians have been largely Democrats, a celebration consisting of Accomplice supporters who would proudly tout the title of “white supremacist” in coming years.
“So what you’re doing right here is you’re getting two for one: you get two Democratic, white-majority counties for the worth of 1 Black-majority county,” Tempo mentioned.
Earlier than the N.C. Common Meeting, which had just one Black consultant on the time, accredited Vance County’s institution on Might 5, 1881, state lawmakers had pitched the concept of forming a brand new county within the space twice earlier than.
The primary try was in 1879 when the legislature voted towards calling the brand new county “Gilliam” after Robert B. Gilliam, a preferred North Carolina decide and U.S. consultant.
Shortly after, lawmakers tried once more — this time calling the brand new county “Dortch,” after William T. Dortch, a state consultant and Accomplice soldier. This effort additionally failed.
Lawmakers returned in 1881 — this time proposing the title “Vance,” after former governor and Accomplice soldier Zebulon B. Vance. Vance was happy with the proposal and referred to the brand new county as “Zeb’s Black Child,” based on a ebook by the identical title written by historian Samuel Peace in 1955.
“I feel progressively every time, slightly extra momentum (was) constructed for it,” Tempo mentioned. “However that type of was the icing on the cake, the one that basically type of put it excessive, was the truth that it was named for Vance.”
‘Blatant instance’ of gerrymandering
Harry Watson, professor of historical past at UNC Chapel Hill, mentioned the formation of Vance County “could also be probably the most blatant examples” of gerrymandering in North Carolina.
“That is the one case that I’m conscious of the place they created a everlasting county for the needs of adjusting election outcomes,” Watson mentioned, including that it’s uncommon to see a complete county fashioned because of gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is usually outlined as manipulating district strains with a purpose to favor one celebration.
In 1890, the primary time the U.S. Census Bureau compiled knowledge about Vance County, 63% of the county’s residents have been Black. Statewide, Black North Carolinians made up solely 31% of the inhabitants on the time.
“Making a county turns into a everlasting change,” he mentioned. “That’s fairly arduous to roll again the subsequent time. Whereas, with regular gerrymandering with legislative districts, the celebration that’s deprived can hope that they achieve sufficient votes within the state to get the bulk subsequent yr.”
Nonetheless, residents shortly created a singular, vibrant neighborhood.
“Within the first years of Vance County, African People bought elected to all of the places of work,” Tempo mentioned. “For 16 years, each consultant within the state legislature from Vance County was African American, which was uncommon.”
The vast majority of county residents have been Black till in regards to the early 1900s, when an inflow of poor white individuals moved to the world for jobs in Vance County’s rising cotton and tobacco industries, Tempo mentioned.
In latest many years, the bulk switched once more. Immediately, census knowledge exhibits Vance County with a Black inhabitants of 52% and a white inhabitants of 44%.
However the shifting majority didn’t show to imply a lot after 1900, when a constitutional modification known as the Grandfather Clause restricted who might vote. The clause deemed solely individuals who voted or who had a direct lineal ancestor who voted in 1867 might solid a poll.
Such legal guidelines “have been handed preemptively with a purpose to forestall a white-Black alliance sooner or later,” Watson mentioned.
“That was the authorized foundation for the stable South, the kind of all-Democratic, all-white vote South that prevailed from the Eighteen Nineties to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”
And right now?
Lawmakers within the Eighteen Eighties might have been profitable in isolating the votes of 1000’s of Black individuals by encircling Vance County with bigger Democratic counties, however that’s to not say that residents didn’t prevail in making Vance a fruitful neighborhood.
Jobs have been accessible throughout the tobacco and textile industries. Black Vance County residents held political places of work. Many owned land and constructed households who would keep within the space for many years. Some residents can hint their roots to those first Vance County residents.
However some say the formation of Vance County on the pretext of Democrats clinging to energy in Franklin, Granville and Warren counties has had an influence on the neighborhood even now, 141 years later.
“I’d prefer to say no, however sadly, we’re our historical past,” Vance County Fee Chairman Leo Kelly Jr. mentioned in response as to if Vance County’s historical past has affected the neighborhood’s present tradition.
Kelly, 76, is the descendant of a few of Vance County’s first residents — one thing he takes immense satisfaction in.
“I exploit it as a constructive factor that my ancestors contributed to the financial improvement of Vance County,” mentioned Kelly, who’s in his sixth yr as a county commissioner.
“As a result of the place the expansion is going down, that was owned by African People.”
As chairman of the fee, Kelly says he’s targeted on transferring Vance County ahead by attracting employers to the world, growing entry to a top quality schooling and empowering younger individuals to proceed combating towards equality and prosperity.
“I feel we miss the chance lots of instances to make use of the conditions that occurred as glorious educating moments,” he mentioned.
“As an alternative of making an attempt to alter the title of Vance County, perceive how the title of Vance County took place,” he mentioned. “It occurred. It occurred. So let’s transfer on.”
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday withdrew his name from contention to serve as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. In a social media statement, Cooper thanked Harris for her campaign’s consideration and reaffirmed his confidence in her victory. “This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” he said. “She has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins.” A source told The New York Times, which reported Cooper’s veepstakes exit before his announcement, that his team had reached out to Harris’ campaign a week ago to say he did not want to be considered. Sources told Politico and NBC News that Cooper had dropped out for a few reasons, including a possible U.S. Senate run in 2026 and fears that North Carolina’s conservative lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, might try to seize power if he left the state to campaign. Harris is aiming to announce her pick for No. 2 by Aug. 7, when the Democratic Party kicks off its virtual nomination process. The party convention is slated to begin Aug. 19 in Chicago.
Read it at The New York Times
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has informed Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign that he does not want to be under consideration in her search for a vice presidential candidate, the governor said Monday night.
Cooper said in a statement explaining his decision that although he was taking himself out of consideration for the role, he’s still backing Harris’ candidacy.
“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President,” Cooper said. “I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket.”
“As I’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins,” he added.
The New York Times first reported that Cooper was withdrawing his name from consideration.
One source directly involved in Harris’ search for a running mate said Cooper took himself out of the mix because he wants to run for the U.S. Senate in 2026. The source said Cooper never indicated to the campaign that he wanted to be vice president and told Harris aides that he did not want to be considered.
NBC News previously reported that interviews with some Democratic insiders pointed to Cooper, along with Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, as top contenders to join Harris on the Democratic ticket.
Other governors, including Kentucky’s Andy Beshear and Minnesota’s Tim Walz, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are among those who have also been floated as potential running mates.
The Harris campaign previously said she plans to select a running mate by Aug. 7.
North Carolina
Feds approve Cooper plan to relieve up to $4B in NC medical debt, as Harris weighs in
A plan unveiled at the beginning of this month by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to leverage Medicaid funds to help North Carolinians struggling with medical debt has been approved by the federal government.
On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a plan that has the potential to relieve $4 billion in existing hospital medical debt for people in the state, according to a news release. In order for the plan to take effect, hospitals would need to sign on.
“Unlike most other debts, medical debt is not intentional because people don’t choose to get seriously ill or have an accident,” Cooper said, according to the news release.
“Medical debts are often beyond people’s ability to pay, ruining their credit, keeping them from getting credit cards, loans and jobs and sometimes driving them into bankruptcy. That’s why we’re working with hospitals and federal partners to help relieve the burden of medical debt for North Carolina families,” he said.
Vice President Kamala Harris — who appears set to become the Democratic presidential nominee for the November election, and has been considering Cooper as a possible running mate — has been “coordinating” with state officials on the medical debt plan, The Washington Post reported.
“No one should be denied access to economic opportunity simply because they experienced a medical emergency,” Harris said in a statement sent as part of a news release Monday.
“Yet today, more than 100 million Americans struggle with medical debt — making it more difficult for them to be approved for a car loan, a home loan, or a small-business loan, which makes it more difficult for them to just get by, much less get ahead.”
“I applaud North Carolina for setting an example that other states can follow by advancing a plan that has the potential to relieve $4 billion in medical debt for two million individuals and families. This critical step also strengthens financial assistance for emergency medical procedures moving forward,” Harris said.
Harris wrote that over $650 million in medical debt had been forgiven through the American Rescue Plan, which was passed under the Biden administration.
The News & Observer has contacted several hospitals and the North Carolina Healthcare Association, which represents hospitals, regarding their stances on the plan.
UNC Health “continues to have discussions with state and federal officials,” UNC Health spokesperson Alan Wolf said in an email.
“We support efforts to reduce medical debt and we expect to receive more details on the approved plan soon,” he said.
Medical debt relief provided
According to Cooper’s news release, hospitals that opt in to the plan must implement the following to be eligible for enhanced payments offered under the plan:
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For those on Medicaid, relieve all unpaid medical debt dating back to Jan. 1, 2014.
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Relieve all unpaid medical debt that has become virtually impossible to collect dating back to Jan. 1, 2014, for people not enrolled in Medicaid whose income is at or below at least 350% of the federal poverty level (FPL) or whose total debt exceeds 5% of their annual income. A family of two at 350% of the FPL makes about $71,000 a year.
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Provide discounts on medical bills for people at or below 300% FPL.
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Automatically enroll people into financial assistance, known as charity care.
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Not sell medical debt of people making below 300% FPL to debt collectors.
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Not report debt covered by policies laid out in the plan to a credit reporting agency.
Patients of participating hospitals will not need to take any actions to benefit from medical debt relief, according to the news release.
Plan to leverage Medicaid funds
When the state expanded Medicaid in December, it implemented a mechanism that allowed hospitals to receive higher federal reimbursements in return for paying the state’s share of costs under the expansion bill.
The federal government covers 90% of Medicaid coverage costs for the expansion population, while the state covers 10%. This funding mechanism was called the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program.
The medical debt relief plan further leverages federal funds by providing higher HASP payments to hospitals that choose to implement the plan.
Hospitals often only collect a small fraction of the medical debt they are owed, Cooper said during a press conference announcing the plan on July 1.
However, large debts that remain on the books can prevent people from buying a home or getting a credit card and sometimes can lead people into homelessness and bankruptcy, he said.
North Carolina has one of the highest percentages — 13.4% — of adults with medical debt, according to KFF, a health policy organization. About 20 million people — or nearly 1 in 12 adults — owe a combined total of at least $220 billion in medical debt in the United States, KFF says.
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