I assume Ross would also have the strong advantage against Nickel.
Back then then Wake + Durham+ Orange wasn't even 2 full seats and you could still add 3 fairly medium sized rurals/exurban counties. Now Orange + Wake+Durham has a spare 100k along with 2 seats to begin with with and if you leave the northern portion of the county open you ruin the GOP opportunity for the black seat. Instead of having a clearly R trending swing seat you now have a mix trending seat. The south can easily be bared with either rurals far to the west or just make a hodgepodge of the Research triangle exurbs with the remaining 100k of Wake.
