RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) - North Carolina Republicans successfully adopted a new congressional map Wednesday, securing an additional seat for Republicans clinging to their majority in the U.S. House as the 2026 midterms approach.
The 2025 map was adopted after passing the state House Wednesday. It did not go to Democratic Governor Josh Stein for approval, as the governor has no oversight over the redistricting process, which was spearheaded by the General Assembly's Republican majority. The map will be in effect for the 2026 elections, barring legal intervention.
Democrats have slammed the new map as racist, as it changes two of North Carolina's 14 districts and moves additional Republican voters into Congressional District 1, a seat currently held by U.S. Representative Don Davis, a moderate Democrat. Davis is one of three Black congressional representatives in the state.
The two districts changed by the new map, Congressional District 1 and Congressional District 3, include many majority-Black areas, and critics of the map have condemned the changes as dismantling a historic Black opportunity district. Republicans have said that the redistricting process is in response to President Donald Trump's call for GOP-controlled states to retain Republican seats in Congress.
"We did our job transparently, lawfully and unapologetically, and if that offends the left, so be it, because what we're defending today is not just a map," said House Republican Leader Brenden Jones. "It's the principle that stops the deck from being stacked against us."
The map's author, state Senator Ralph Hise, has said that the map was specifically designed for political gain, and has vehemently denied that racial data was included in the drafting process.
"The claim of no racial data used is a legal shield to mask real-world tragedy," resident Deb Oronzio said during public comment in the House Redistricting Committee on Tuesday. "You are effectively silencing the voices of Black North Carolinians and erasing their history of representation. This isn't just partisan. This is a moral regression."
The drawing process was not public, but public input was accepted on the plans through an online form. Over 12,000 comments have been received.
Democratic Representative Pricey Harrison told the House floor Wednesday that only three of the comments - which have not been made public - were in favor of the new map.
These two districts being changed have the longest legacy of Black leadership and the highest concentration of Black voters, she added.
A September poll in the state found that 84% of voters don't find partisan redistricting acceptable, regardless of the circumstances. The number holds across party lines, with 78% of Republicans finding it never acceptable, along with 87% of Democrats and 85% of unaffiliated voters, who are the largest voting population in the state. More than 70% of voters support the creation of a commission to draw voting maps, and only 12% want lawmakers to continue drafting maps.
The map, which was first announced last week, will likely boot Davis from the state's only competitive seat. Davis has posted that he is considering his options and a representative has not responded to requests for comment on his future election plans. Davis has called the new map "beyond the pale."
The party of the president normally loses support during the midterms after a general election. Republicans have a very narrow majority in the U.S. House, occupying 219 seats, one more than the 218 needed to have a majority.
Texas began the redistricting process in the summer after Trump urged it to revise its U.S. House districts, striving to flip five Democratic seats red in the midterms. California followed suit, passing a measure to use congressional maps skewed toward Democrats through 2030, which will be put to voters on the ballot in November.
North Carolina's Republican leadership has argued that many Democratic-leaning states have given themselves a disproportionate number of seats in Congress.
"Across the country, Democrat-run states have spent decades ensuring that Republicans would be drawn out of Congress," Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger said Tuesday after the map passed the Senate. "North Carolina Republicans will not sit quietly and watch Democrats continue to ignore the will of the people in an attempt to force their liberal agenda on our citizens. This new map respects the will of the North Carolina voters who sent President Trump to the White House three times."
Missouri has already completed redistricting ahead of midterms, and Ohio and Kansas have begun the process. Trump has also pushed for Indiana to draft new maps, and supported North Carolina's redistricting.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to regulate partisan gerrymandering claims, and in North Carolina, the courts have upheld that political redistricting is legal.
Source: Courthouse News Service
