North Carolina's 12th congressional district

North Carolina's 12th congressional district
District map as of 2006
Current Representative		Mel Watt (D–Charlotte)
Area	827 mi²
Distribution	88.5% urban, 11.5% rural
Population (2000)	619,178
Median income	$35,775
Ethnicity	47.2% White, 44.6% Black, 2.1% Asian, 7.1% Hispanic, 0.4% Native American, 0.1% other
Occupation	32.1% blue collar, 51.9% white collar, 16.0% gray collar
Cook PVI	D+16

North Carolina's 12th congressional district is located in central North Carolina and comprises portions of Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Lexington, Salisbury, Concord, and High Point. It is an example of gerrymandering.^[1]

Before its current creation, North Carolina had a twelfth seat in the House in the nineteenth century and in the mid-twentieth century (1943-1963).

Current district

The district was re-established after the 1990 United States Census, when North Carolina gained a district. It was drawn in 1992^[2] as a 64 percent black majority district stretching from Gastonia to Durham. It was very long and so thin at some points that it was no wider than a highway lane, as it followed Interstate 85 almost exactly,^[3][4] and was criticized as a gerrymandered district. The Wall Street Journal called the district "political pornography." The United States Supreme Court ruled in Shaw v. Reno, 509 U.S. 630 (1993) that a racial gerrymander may, in some circumstances, violate the Equal Protection Clause.^[5] Subsequently, the district was redrawn several times and was adjudicated in the Supreme Court on two further occasions. ^[6] The version created after the 2000 census was approved in Hunt v. Cromartie. The current version based on the 2010 census has a small plurality of whites.

Its current representative is Democrat Melvin Watt, who has represented the district since 1993.

List of representatives

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

External links

• Mel Watt's official website

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