Gerrymandered district
The 12th district, in its original configuration, was criticized as a gerrymandered district. It was originally drawn in 1992[3] as a 64% black majority district stretching from Gastonia to Durham. It was very long and thin as it followed Interstate 85 almost exactly.[4][5] The Wall Street Journal called the district "political pornography" and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor called the district's shape "bizarre" during the course of the eventual United States Supreme Court case involving the district, Shaw v. Reno. The district was thrown out as unconstitutional in 1996 and has been redrawn several times. Regardless of the district's configuration, Watt has had virtually no difficulty winning re-election in the always heavily Democratic district.
[edit] Ralph Nader incident
In 2004, Ralph Nader attended a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus, where he alleges that Congressman Watt twice uttered an "obscene racial epithet" towards him. It was alleged that Watt said: "You're just another arrogant white man — telling us what we can do — it's all about your ego — another f--king arrogant white man." Although Nader wrote a letter to the Caucus and to Watt asking for an apology, none was offered.[6]