From Clifford Thies:

The North Carolina state legislature, which flipped Republican in 2010, has re-drawn the state's Congressional District lines so as to favor Republican candidates. As a result, three or four seats currently held by Democrats are likely to be represented by Republicans after the 2012 elections. No surprise there. But, what really is news is that one of these new Republican-friendly seats appears to be drawn specifically for Vernon Robinson, a prominent black conservative. The former Winston-Salem city councilman resides in Democrat Brad Miller's re-drawn district. The re-drawn district voted 56 percent for McCain in 2008, whereas the old district voted only 40 percent for McCain. In 2006, Robinson, a founding member of the North Carolina Republican Liberty Caucus, finished first in the Republican primary in a heavily-Republican Congressional district that stretched out to the west. He was edged by then state Senator Virginia Foxx in the run-off, who went on to an easy win in the general election.

Robinson's new district is more urban, which should be to his advantage in the primary, as well as sufficiently Republican, to give him the advantage in the general. Following a defeat in 2006, Robinson announced that he would never again run for political office; but, with re-drawn district lines, conditions have changed. This development, the district in Texas drawn for Michael Williams, and our two incumbents, the Party of Lincoln looks to have at least four African Americans in Congress following next year's elections.