Even though a large chunk of its population is located in the conservative-leaning eastern suburbs of Charlotte, the 8th has long been considered marginally Democratic due to a strong Democratic presence in the eastern portion of the district closer to Fayetteville. After the 2000 Census, the Democratic-controlled North Carolina General Assembly made the 8th considerably more Democratic than before. It shifted the heavily Republican western portion of Union County to the Charlotte-based 9th District. In its place, it added a heavily Democratic tendril in Mecklenburg County to the 8th, stretching from the far northeastern portion of Charlotte almost to Matthews.