Richard Vinroot, a Republican former mayor of Charlotte, and Charles Meeker, a Democratic former mayor of Raleigh, joined forces in a Charlotte Observer op-ed to call on the North Carolina General Assembly to end partisan gerrymandering. The two leaders represent North Carolinians to End Gerrymandering, an organization of which Common Cause North Carolina is a member.

The former mayors highlighted the partisan imbalance in the state’s congressional district compared to the statewide vote and described the importance of having “a government that fairly represents the people, and in which voters have confidence.” North Carolina’s majority Republican legislature drew congressional districts allowing Republicans to win 77 percent of seats despite winning only 55 percent of the votes in 2014. Vinroot and Meeker advocated for a nonpartisan redistricting system because decades of partisan gerrymandering by both parties “has undermined citizens’ confidence in our government, created highly partisan legislative districts and caused gridlock.”

Read the full op-ed.