Triad's 6th District could be split into rural districts under new map proposals

State lawmakers have unveiled draft versions of the maps that will be used to redraw North Carolina's political boundaries. The results could mean big changes for who Triad voters send to Washington.

The General Assembly will be debating redistricting into next month. But early GOP-drawn maps have been panned by Democrats who say they don't represent the state's politics.

What could happen in the current 6th District exemplifies their argument. It's currently drawn keeping Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point voters together. Democrat Kathy Manning won the district last year in a landslide.

That could change though. Some proposed maps have the current seat divided up in as many as four ways. The common feature of the revisions is rural-dominated districts that split the urban vote here. 

North Carolina is pretty evenly divided among Democrats and Republicans. But early analysis of the GOP draft maps found they lean disproportionally in their favor. 

Republicans hold a majority in the legislature, which means they'll ultimately decide where the lines are drawn. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, does not have the power to veto them.

In some ways, the maps must be different from 2020's districts. North Carolina added about 900,000 people in the last decade. That's enough to warrant a new seat in Congress.