North Carolina's 2nd congressional district

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"NC-2" redirects here. NC-2 may also refer to North Carolina Highway 2.

North Carolina's 2nd congressional district
North Carolina's 2nd congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative		Renee Ellmers (R–Dunn)
Distribution	49.45% urban, 50.55% rural
Population (2000)	619,178
Median income	$36,510
Ethnicity	61.8% White, 30.4% Black, 0.6% Asian, 7.9% Hispanic, 0.9% Native American, 0.3% other
Cook PVI	R+11

North Carolina's 2nd congressional district is located in the central and eastern parts of the state. Today, the district, which is represented by Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers, includes all or parts of Alamance, Chatham, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Moore, Randolph and Wake counties.

Established by the state legislature after the American Civil War, the district was known as "The Black Second;" counties included in the district were mostly majority-black in population. All four of North Carolina's Republican African-American congressmen elected in the post-Civil War era (ending with George Henry White) represented this district, as did white yeoman farmer Curtis Hooks Brogden of Wayne County, a Republican ally of former Governor William Woods Holden.

After North Carolina Democrats regained control of the state legislature in the 1870s (using intimidation by the Red Shirts and other paramilitary groups to reduce the number of blacks voting), they passed voter registration and electoral laws that restricted voter rolls. Blacks continued to get elected to local and state offices. The state legislature passed a new constitutional amendment in 1900, which effectively disfranchised blacks altogether. This ended the election of blacks to local, state or Congressional offices until after passage of federal civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s, which enforced constitutional voting rights.

Thousands of blacks migrated north from the state in the Great Migration during the first half of the twentieth century, seeking job opportunities and education. By the later twentieth century, before the 1990s, the 2nd district was roughly 40% black. While it had the highest percentage of black residents of any congressional district in North Carolina, African-American candidates were unable to get elected to Congress from the majority-white district.

State redistricting following census changes led to the creation of the black-majority 1st and 12th districts and drew off some black population from the 2nd. Today the proportion of African-American residents is about 30.4% in the 2nd District.

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years	District Residence	Note
Hugh Williamson	Anti-Administration	March 19, 1790 – March 3, 1791		Redistricted to the 4th district
Nathaniel Macon	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1791 – March 3, 1793		Redistricted to the 5th district
Matthew Locke	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795		Lost re-election
	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1799
Archibald Henderson	Federalist	March 4, 1799 – March 3, 1803
Willis Alston	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1815		Redistricted from the 9th district
Joseph H. Bryan	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1819
Vacant		March 4, 1819 – December 5, 1819
Hutchins G. Burton	Democratic-Republican	December 6, 1819 – March 3, 1823		Resigned after being elected Governor of North Carolina
	Crawford D-R	March 4, 1823 – March 23, 1824
Vacant		March 24, 1824 – January 18, 1825
George Outlaw	Crawford D-R	January 19, 1825 – March 3, 1825	Bertie
Willis Alston	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1831	Halifax
John Branch	Jacksonian	May 12, 1831 – March 3, 1833
Jesse A. Bynum	Jacksonian	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837	Halifax
	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841
John Daniel	Democratic	March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843	Halifax	Redistricted to the 7th district
Daniel M. Barringer	Whig	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847		Redistricted to the 3rd district
Nathaniel Boyden	Whig	March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849	Salisbury	Retired
Joseph P. Caldwell	Whig	March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1853	Statesville	Retired
Thomas H. Ruffin	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1861
Civil War and Reconstruction
75px David Heaton	Republican	July 25, 1868 – June 25, 1870		Died
Vacant		June 26, 1870 – December 4, 1870
Joseph Dixon	Republican	December 5, 1870 – March 3, 1871		Retired
Charles Thomas	Republican	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875		Lost renomination
75px John A. Hyman	Republican	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877		Lost renomination to immediate past governor
Curtis H. Brogden	Republican	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1879	Wayne	Retired
William H. Kitchin	Democratic	March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1881		Lost re-election
75px Orlando Hubbs	Republican	March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883	New Bern	Retired
James E. O'Hara	Republican	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887		Lost re-election
Furnifold M. Simmons	Democratic	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1889		Lost re-election
75px Henry P. Cheatham	Republican	March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1893	Vance	Lost re-election
Frederick A. Woodard	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897		Lost re-election
75px George H. White	Republican	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1901	New Bern	Retired after state passage of 1900 disfranchisement constitution, which suppressed black voters for more than 60 years
Claude Kitchin	Democratic	March 4, 1901 – May 31, 1923		Died
Vacant		June 1, 1923 – November 5, 1923
John H. Kerr	Democratic	November 6, 1923 – January 3, 1953		Lost renomination
75px L. H. Fountain	Democratic	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1983		Retired
75px Tim Valentine	Democratic	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1995		Retired
75px David Funderburk	Republican	January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997		Lost re-election
75px Bob Etheridge	Democratic	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2011	Lillington	Lost re-election
75px Renee Ellmers	Republican	January 3, 2011 – present	Dunn

Historical district boundaries

File:NC-Congress-2.PNG

2003 - 2013

See also

• North Carolina's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

External links

• Congresswoman Ellmers's official website