Enacted by the GOP legislature in late July and precleared by the Justice Department this week, North Carolina's new Congressional map is pretty much Democrats' worst nightmare. Republicans even made last-minute alterations to their initial draft in order to further weaken Democratic Reps. Mike McIntyre and Heath Shuler, the two conservative Democrats with the best chance of surviving. In addition, Republicans merged Democratic Rep. Brad Miller into Democratic Rep. David Price's 4th CD, creating a new heavily GOP seat in the Raleigh area. That's not all: they thrashed Democratic Rep. Larry Kissell's 8th CD along the southern tier, making any credible Republican nominee a favorite there.
Republican legislators cleverly tweaked McIntyre's 7th CD to drop Wilmington, the home base of weak 2010 Republican nominee Ilario Pantano, and add Johnston County, the home base of state Sen. David Rouzer. Rouzer is now the favorite for the Republican nomination. In the 11th CD, Hendersonville area prosecutor Jeff Hunt and real estate investor Mark Meadows are the early frontrunners to take on Shuler - that is, if Shuler follows through and runs for
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