It’s Thursday, January 18.
Thanks to this week’s sponsor Downtown Durham. It’s Downtown Durham Feast month! Come eat or drink in downtown Durham, then enter to win a weekly grand prize of a one-night stay at a downtown hotel, a gift basket filled with goodies from downtown retailers and a $100 SpendaBull e-gift card. More info at downtowndurham.com/feast.
Good morning, readers.
As the 2024 general election approaches, Democrats are fighting to defend their seats in the NC House and Senate.
In a not unfamiliar move, the Republican supermajority in the legislature redrew electoral maps last year to favor the GOP. That included drawing incumbent Democrats out of their districts, including District 13 Senator Lisa Grafstein, who was elected in 2022 with 62 percent of the vote.
Grafstein’s district, which used to span North Raleigh from I-440 to Durant Road, now encompasses southern Wake County (from Fuquay-Varina to Garner) and its rural outskirts. The new district is expected to be much more competitive.
According to the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, Republicans are expected to get about 51.25 percent of the vote in District 13, likely edging out Democrats (who have an estimated vote share of 48.75 percent). It’s worth noting that Princeton also gave the new Senate map an “F” on its redistricting report card, noting it gives Republicans a “significant advantage.”
Despite the changes, the North Carolina Democratic Party recruited 168 candidates to run for 170 total state legislative seats—50 in the state Senate and 118 in the state House. Grafstein was a part of that effort, quickly moving into the new District 13 to stay eligible as a candidate.
In November, the GOP called on Grafstein to resign because she had moved out of the old District 13. Then Republican candidate Scott Lassiter (who you may recall sued House Speaker Tim Moore last year over an alleged affair with Lassiter’s wife, Jamie Lassiter) filed a challenge to remove Grafstein from the ballot.
The Wake County Board of Elections unanimously rejected the challenge.
In the March 5 primary, Lassiter will compete against fellow Republican and coffee shop owner Vicki Harry for the chance to challenge Grafstein in the fall.
Have a good Thursday,
— Jasmine
Durham
Bloomberg Philanthropies provided a $29.5 million grant to establish a partnership between Duke Health, Durham Tech, and Durham Public Schools for an innovative early college program in local high schools that will prepare students to work in the healthcare field.
Sam’s Bottle Shop in South Durham will close its doors in February.
ICYMI: Durham’s city council selected Legal Aid attorney Chelsea Cook to fill the Ward Three seat left vacant by Leo Williams after he was elected mayor.
DPS closed seven schools today as a power outage has left more than 11,000 Duke Energy customers in Durham without electricity.
Meanwhile, Durham’s school bus driver shortage continues. DPS superintendent Pascal Mubenga apologized after giving DPS staff bonuses or raises the district now says were too high and is trying to recoup.
Wake
Raleigh’s city council will debate whether to rezone property for more density along its first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line on New Bern Avenue this month. More on the proposed Transit Overlay District and the construction already underway on BRT here.
Orange
Here’s how UNC’s search process for a new permanent chancellor will work.
North Carolina
North Carolina’s Judicial Standards Commission dismissed a complaint against NC Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls for comments she made about a lack of diversity in the state’s judiciary. In turn, Earls dropped a federal lawsuit she had filed against the commission.
Today’s weather
Sunny and cold with a high of 50 degrees.
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