Deanna Ballard May Have a Tough Row to Hoe

Deanna Ballard

Shirley Randleman

The Mount Airy News reported that some preliminary redistricting maps (still kept quite secret from the voting public) may indeed redraw a Watauga County district and cause a good deal of angst for Sen. Deanna Ballard.

The beans were spilled by Republican Rep. Sarah Stevens, who represents Surry and part of Wilkes Co. and who also serves on the closeted group of General Assembly members who are redrawing NC House and Senate districts to comply with an order from the federal courts. In other words, Rep. Sarah Stevens ought to know what she's talking about.

'Pears that it's likely that the redrawing will force incumbent Sen. Deanna Ballard of Watauga into the same senate district as incumbent Sen. Shirley Randleman of Wilkes County. It's called "double-bunking," and in the past the Republican map drawers used it effectively against Democrats. If what Rep. Stevens suggests comes to pass, Ballard and Randleman will have to duke it out in a Republican primary next year.

Not guessing how that primary contest might turn out. Randleman has a good deal more seniority than Ballard and a higher profile in the General Assembly.