Wake legislator pitches elections overhaul aimed at boosting county's GOP representation

A new bill from the only Wake County Republican in the North Carolina General Assembly would overhaul Wake County commission elections, likely giving Republicans a foothold on a board that’s made up entirely of Democrats now.

Under the current system commissioners must live in one of seven county districts, but they’re all elected countywide, giving the county’s substantial majority of Democratic voters an advantage in all seven elections.

State Rep. Erin Paré’s bill keeps the seven districts as they exist now and voters in those districts would elect one candidate each. Elections would be nonpartisan, though the state’s political parties often get involved in nonpartisan races, making it clear to informed voters who is associated with which party.

Paré called it a common-sense measure that recognizes the size and diversity of Wake County’s geography and population.

“We're now larger in population than eight states,” she said. “So it just doesn't make any sense to have 1.2 million people electing who represents communities of interest around the county.”

To win would require a plurality, meaning whoever gets the most votes wins whether they hit 50% or not.

Wake County Democrats, on the commission and in the state legislature, were still reviewing the bill late Monday. Board Chair Shinica Thomas said she and other commissioners are in Washington, D.C., for the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference and "were surprised to receive word of the proposed legislation this afternoon, as we were not consulted about it prior to filing."

Commissioners needed time to consider the bill, Thomas said in a statement.

State Rep. Cynthia Ball, D-Wake, also called the measure “a surprise.” Rep. Maria Cervania, a Democrat and former Wake County commissioner, said that Paré “didn’t talk to me, or the Wake delegation, or the commissioners” about the bill. Cervania said she opposes the measure and that the current system helps every county commissioner understand issues from across the county.

Paré said she circulated a draft of the bill last year and that she asked commissioners to propose their own change to countywide elections. She called the current system “taxation without representation” for some voters, particularly those in rural parts of the county.

It’s not clear what sort of momentum the measure, House Bill 99, has. But the General Assembly is controlled by Republicans, and it has tinkered in the past with local election structures around the state, often over objections from Democrats in those communities.

Paré said she expects the bill to move forward, hopefully with bipartisan support.

“I think it's time that we go ahead and address this,” Paré said.