news-record.com

GREENSBORO (MCT) — Congressman Howard Coble will take a little longer to decide whether to run for re-election next year.

Coble, a Republican who represents the 6th District, indicated this summer that he hoped to make a decision by the end of the year on whether to seek a 15th term in Congress. But the dean of the North Carolina congressional delegation said ongoing legal challenges to the redistricting plan have prompted him to put off an announcement.

Coble says he wants to see if the courts intervene to change proposed congressional district lines before deciding whether to run for the seat he's held since 1985.

The new congressional districts were fashioned by the Republican-controlled N.C. General Assembly earlier this year, but are being challenged in court by Democrats and liberal-leaning groups. One focus of the legal challenge is whether the new congressional lines unfairly pack minority voters into select districts.

"I had planned to make an announcement sometime in December. But I'd like to wait and see what the final picture is going to look like before I decide," Coble said Thursday.

The filing period for next year's elections is scheduled to begin in mid-February. As of now, Coble said he's leaning toward seeking re-election. But the congressman, who represents parts of High Point, emphasized that could change depending on what happens in the courts.

"That's a long way from final," he said.

The 80-year-old congressman said he receives frequent questions from constituents about his intentions, and added that many people have encouraged him to seek another two-year term.

If Coble seeks re-election, he may have to run in a dramatically redrawn 6th District that would include eight counties in which Coble has never run for congressional office.

The current 6th District covers all or part of six counties: Guilford, Randolph, Davidson, Rowan, Alamance and Moore.

The redrawn district, shaped like a funnel with the greater High Point area at its tip, would cover all or part of 10 counties up to the North Carolina-Virginia border. The district's western edge would reach to Stokes and Surry counties, with the eastern border bracketed by Granville and Person counties. The redrawn 6th District, like the current one, would remain conservative-leaning.