Rep. GK Butterfield announces retirement, setting up wide-open election in Eastern NC
U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield announced Thursday he will retire from Congress, accusing the North Carolina General Assembly of racially gerrymandering new political maps that leave him in a less favorable district.
Butterfield, a 74-year-old Democrat from Wilson who has served in Congress since 2004, is a civil rights advocate and former judge. He currently serves in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, which stretches through Eastern North Carolina.
“The map that was recently enacted by the legislature is a partisan map,” Butterfield said in a video announcing his retirement. “It is racially gerrymandered. It will disadvantage African American communities all across the 1st Congressional District.
“I am disappointed with the Republican majority legislature for again, gerrymandering our state’s congressional districts and putting their party politics over the best interests of North Carolinians,” Butterfield said.
Butterfield is the former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and now serves as senior chief deputy whip of the House Democratic Caucus, where he succeeded the late John Lewis.
He plans to finish his term that ends after the 2022 elections.
“I am proud of my work in Congress on behalf of my constituents and I know that my life’s work of fighting for greater fairness and equity will not cease even after the close of the 117th Congress,” Butterfield said. “While the challenges our nation faces are great, I am confident that our best days are yet to come.”
He thanked his constituents for allowing him to serve and said it has been his greatest privilege.
Butterfield is the second North Carolina Democrat to retire in recent weeks, joining Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill.
Stopped outside the House chambers Wednesday, Price said he wouldn’t comment on news of Butterfield’s retirement, believing his colleague should get to break the news himself.
On Thursday he put out this statement: “G. K. Butterfield and I have been friends and political comrades-in-arms since we worked together on the 1984 campaign for the North Carolina Democratic Party. I receive news of his retirement with mixed emotions, but with wholehearted respect and gratitude for his years of distinguished service on the bench and, for the last sixteen years, as a colleague in the U.S. House of Representatives. G. K. is a visionary leader, a master of the art of politics, and a valued friend, and I wish him and Sylvia the best in the next chapter of their lives.”
Butterfield told The News & Observer earlier this month that he had planned to run for reelection and wanted “to run under a fair map.”
But as state lawmakers worked to redraw North Carolina’s congressional districts it became clear that Butterfield, along with another Democrat, U.S. Rep. Kathy Manning, were at risk of losing their seats.
Maps redrawn
Lawmakers were required to redraw the districts this year after the release of Census numbers that earned North Carolina an additional 14th congressional district.
The map handily gives Republicans eight districts and Democrats three. It also includes two districts whose voters tend to lean slightly to the right.
But Butterfield’s hometown was placed into the 2nd Congressional District, which lawmakers drew with just a slight lean to the left, giving Republicans the chance to flip it. Now the swing district will likely attract candidates of both parties.
The 2nd district, unlike the majority-minority district Butterfield represents now, is majority-white, The News & Observer reported.
Several lawsuits accusing lawmakers of gerrymandering the maps have already been filed.
Butterfield said he hopes the courts will overturn the maps, but despite that hope he still made the “difficult decision” to retire.
Republican lawmakers said they didn’t use racial data in drawing the maps. They said they don’t believe there’s evidence that racially polarized voting is happening in North Carolina and therefore did not need to create majority-minority voting districts as they did in the past, The N&O previously reported.
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Alex Nolley put out a statement soon before Butterfield made his retirement official and took the news as a victory.
“G.K. Butterfield, like several Democrats across the country, knows that his chances of winning re-election are dwindling just like Joe Biden’s approval ratings and would rather bow out now than face rejection at the ballot box,” Nolley said. “North Carolinians see through the Democrat agenda that caused a border crisis, a botched Afghanistan withdrawal and record-high inflation, and Butterfield’s decision not to see re-election is further evidence that the Red Wave is coming to North Carolina.”
It’s not the first time Butterfield’s family has experienced redistricting that cost them a political seat.
Butterfield’s website explains how he watched his father be removed from local office in the 1950s in a surprise redistricting while his father was out of town.
In a segregated city, Butterfield’s father spent 50 years working with Black residents in East Wilson and helping many who had never been able to afford dental care.
To help register Black voters, his father formed the Wilson branch of the NAACP. He was then elected to the Wilson City Council, becoming the first Black member since Reconstruction.
Butterfield’s website said his father’s work with the Black voters angered the other council members who held an emergency meeting to recreate the city council with only at-large seats. The move meant that the entire city voted for the candidates and diluted the Black vote.
Civil rights leader
His father lost his position on the city council, which created in Butterfield a desire to become a lawyer focusing on civil rights.
Butterfield attended North Carolina Central University where he, too, helped Black voters register.
In 1965, after the passing of the Voting Rights Act, he organized a march from the N.C. Capitol to the Wilson County Courthouse to encourage voter registration. That same year he helped workers at Duke University, where he interned, demand better worker rights.
While his college career was interrupted when the U.S. Army drafted Butterfield and stationed him at Fort Bragg, he later finished his law degree.
Butterfield provided legal services to low-income people. He made a name for himself winning several voting rights cases.
Eventually he became a Superior Court judge, serving for 13 years before he was appointed in 2001 by Gov. Mike Easley to serve on the N.C. Supreme Court.
He lost his reelection in 2002 and then was reappointed as a Superior Court judge for two more years before he retired in 2004 to focus on a congressional run.
He won 71% of the vote and became a congressman, where he has served ever since.
Serving in Congress
Butterfield has served on the Agriculture, Ethics, Armed Services and Energy and Commerce committees as well as several subcommittees.
His announcement led to an outpouring of support from both sides of the aisle that included U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis and U.S. Reps. Alma Adams and Deborah Ross.
Tillis, a Republican, said the duo has worked together to secure key wins for historically Black colleges and universities, infrastructure projects and economic development in Eastern North Carolina. He vowed to continue their joint effort of getting federal recognition for the Lumbee tribe.
Pelosi highlighted Butterfield’s accomplishments.
“Congressman G.K. Butterfield is an esteemed and effective leader in the Congress and the Country, who has dedicated his life to fighting For The People,” Pelosi said. “From the courtroom to the Congress, Congressman Butterfield has made it his mission for expand opportunity in America, and he has succeeded.”
Pelosi credited him with spearheading initiatives to create jobs, fight poverty in Black communities and driving progress that included working on legislation to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol.
Who else could run
Going forward all eyes are on who might run to take Butterfield’s place. Two have announced their consideration of the position: state Sen. Don Davis and former state Sen. Erica Smith.
Davis, a Pitt County Democrat, had said this week he could run for Congress in the newly drawn 2nd district if Butterfield decides not to run for another term.
Following the congressman’s announcement he put out a statement teasing his plans and celebrating Butterfield’s accomplishments.
“I will have more to say about my future plans in due time, but today is about celebrating the service and accomplishments of my good friend, Congressman Butterfield,” Davis said. “North Carolina will be forever grateful for his committed and unwavering dedication to public service.”
Davis said Butterfield’s retirement is a great loss for Eastern North Carolina. He added that he’s always been impressed by the congressman’s leadership and ability to get results for his constituents.
On Wednesday, as rumors of Butterfield’s retirement made their way around North Carolina political circles, a spokesman for Smith said she has been approached by people on Capitol Hill about running for Butterfield’s seat and said it is an option her team is exploring.
Smith is currently running for U.S. Senate, but two other Democrats have dominated fundraising in the race.
On Thursday, Smith released her own statement about Butterfield’s retirement crediting him with inspiring her.
“His retirement leaves us with big shoes to fill in Congress,” Smith said. “Through more than thirty years of local, state and national leadership, his unwavering commitment to civil rights and economic justice have made North Carolina better, and have inspired me personally to become part of the movement for change.”
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 5:42 PM.