Written by: Cary and Bridget Davenport
We attended a County Commissioners meeting and were surprised at the level of opposition (and vitriol) from a small group about our new districts. Here are the FACTS
Firsts, who brought this lawsuit that has cost the taxpayers so much.
- 3 democrats who lost their commission seats last election
- Common Cause-bills themselves as non-partisan but really are anything but, Common Cause is a Soros funded political organization
- Watauga County Voting Rights Task Force, hard to know who this is. Listed themselves as non-profit, nonpartisan organization but we could find no registration under that name or under their federal tax ID at North Carolina Secretary of State or at the IRS, On Propublica.org we did find their tax ID and what came up was the IRS form 990 for the Tides Foundation! Tides foundation is a far left progressive and very rich organization. From Influence Watch website, I quote “Tides has received millions of dollars from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations and was labeled by the National Legal and Policy Center as “George Soros’ Favorite Money Handler”. Tides Foundation reported on their 2024 IRS form 990 a “grant” to this Watauga County Voting Rights Task Force of $50,000. Pretty healthy donation and again, the deep pockets of Soros reaching into our county to fund this lawsuit against us. Don’t know yet what 2025 “grants” are pushing this law fare along. And just as an aside, we couldn’t find a 2024 filing by Watauga County Voting Rights Task Force reporting this $50,000.
Now to the real purpose of why our county is being subjected to this. According to the plaintiffs: Common Cause, Watauga County Voting Rights Task Force and the 3 commissioners who lost their election, we the taxpayers are paying out because they contend that our new districts are unfair for three factors: 1. Urban voters (IE city of Boone), 2. Student voters and 3. Voters who prefer Democrat candidates. Not a word about the voting rights of anybody else in the county. Here is what Judge Orso of the US District Court Western District of North Carolina in his ruling on their request for an injunction, he writes “At their base, all three factors are rooted in partisanship” I took this to mean that this whole thing is about democrat power and how to get it back and keep it. Judge Orso again: “This case reflects a political struggle between county-state-level interest. The Republican-controlled state legislature passed a redistricting measure impacting a county’s Democrat-controlled board of commissioners and how they are elected”. The judge concludes and I quote “those Democrat commissioners then passed a resolution and won a local referendum, aiming to preserve their own political power-and that of their party.” Not a word about the stuff on these signs because that’s not why the plaintiffs: Common Cause-Watauga County Voting Rights Task Force and the 3 commissioners who lost their election, are in this. It’s all about democrat power. And County wide voting is crucial to democrat control. The truth of the matter is there’s no interest in my voting rights, only interest in the votes in that concentrated population of reliably democrat voters in the “blue dot”. Those in the “blue dot” still get to choose their own commissioner. They don’t get to choose mine anymore.
And lastly…how long is this going to go on? Judge Orso again…” Plaintiffs have not demonstrated a likelihood that their claims belong in federal court or that they would otherwise succeed on the merits,” It’s a failed case yet the deep pockets continue to pursue this to punish Watauga County with ever increasing legal fees. These expenses need to be assigned where they belong, on Common Cause, Watauga County Voting Rights Task Force and the 3 commissioners who lost their election.
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