CAUGHT: NC Senator Retires After He's Caught Gerrymandering His District

By David Edwards — September 17, 2019

North Carolina Republican state Sen. John Alexander has announced that he will not seek re-election after he was caught trying to gerrymander his own district.

Alexander made the announcement on Thursday after he was seen on video Wednesday making changes that would have made his district a safe Republican seat while representing many Democrats in the Raleigh area.

The changes were pointed out on Twitter by John Bisognano, executive director of National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

Follow the tweets below.

🚨BREAKING🚨: LIVE gerrymandering happening rn in North Carolina.

You can WATCH live here: https://t.co/1WxuJvkzXU

Ever wonder how gerrymandering happens?

Follow along: this is Republican Senator Alexander entering the room:

[thread] pic.twitter.com/vS9i2LF3Or

— John Bisognano (@johnbisognano) September 12, 2019

This is what the randomly selected base map looked like when the process began (a version of expert Jowei Chen’s map used in the NC redraw Court case)

GOP members could have used this map but instead begin to ✂️ & 🖋 lines that they wanted in their districts. pic.twitter.com/OH4ZeyMJnU

— John Bisognano (@johnbisognano) September 12, 2019

Senator Alexander sits and sees that someone made edits and now he is in a district that is MUCH more democratic.

[We can’t have that, now can we?]🤔 #Gerrymander pic.twitter.com/QFJosvhElk

— John Bisognano (@johnbisognano) September 12, 2019

The version of the map in place when Senator Alexander sits down... pic.twitter.com/VqSivamD3z

— John Bisognano (@johnbisognano) September 12, 2019

Senator Alexander gets up and cuts ✂️ a massive slice in the map to save his own district... #Gerrymander

[Well done, Senator?] 🙃 pic.twitter.com/MjIHhHn5H8

— John Bisognano (@johnbisognano) September 12, 2019

Senator Alexander heading out after a gerrymander well done... 🥴 pic.twitter.com/Y5XibnqEtb

— John Bisognano (@johnbisognano) September 12, 2019

Make no mistake, Senator Alexander is not the first nor will he be the last to #gerrymander.

Gone are the days of back room deals and closed door hearings. The country is now watching.

This is not what democracy should look like.

— John Bisognano (@johnbisognano) September 12, 2019

Wow... [BIG UPDATE] upon realizing that his changes wouldn't fly Senator Alexander announces that he will RETIRE.

You know what they say... when the gerrymandering gets tough, pack your bags and go home... 🤷‍♂️

— John Bisognano (@johnbisognano) September 12, 2019

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