NC lawmakers unveil proposed congressional map in effort to maintain GOP control

Republican North Carolina lawmakers released newly proposed congressional districts Thursday — a move that seeks to protect or expand the GOP’s control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The newly proposed map would do just that, by turning the state’s only competitive district — won by a Democrat in 2024 — into a district that’s more likely to elect a Republican in 2026.

Republican legislative leaders plan to vote on the map when they return to session next week. It’s part of a nationwide effort by lawmakers in states run by both major political parties to maximize their advantage heading into the 2026 midterms, when Democrats are seeking to break Republicans’ control of Congress.

North Carolina is represented by 14 members in the U.S. House — 10 Republicans and four Democrats. Leaders in the state legislature plan to return to Raleigh next week to approve new lines that could favor more GOP candidates, creating an 11-3 split instead.

Their target is Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat who represents the northeastern corner of the state. Davis told WRAL Thursday that politicians should be focused on fixing bigger problems.

"Families across eastern North Carolina are struggling and feel that Washington, D.C., is broken," Davis said. "I understand these concerns all too well. As we look at new congressional districts, I am considering every option, drawing on my local roots, experience in the military, and commitment to education."

The move to draw new maps comes as President Donald Trump has called on Republicans across the nation to redraw congressional districts to help the GOP in next year’s midterm elections.

Republican legislative leaders have pointed to Trump’s history of carrying North Carolina in presidential elections as a reason legislative leaders should gerrymander the state further to help protect Republican control of Congress.

“President Trump earned a clear mandate from the voters of North Carolina and the rest of the country, and we intend to defend it by drawing an additional Republican Congressional seat,” North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said in a statement on Monday. A spokesperson for Hall didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Trump won the 2024 presidential election with 49.8% of the vote nationwide, including 50.9% in North Carolina. This new map would be expected to give Republicans 79% of the state’s U.S. House seats.

Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, has said legislative leaders are abusing their power with the new proposal. “The General Assembly works for North Carolina, not Donald Trump,” Stein said in a statement on Monday, when Republican lawmakers said they would release a new map. “The Republican leadership in the General Assembly has failed to pass a budget, failed to pay our teachers and law enforcement what they deserve, and failed to fully fund Medicaid. Now they are failing you, the voters.”

The governor is banned from vetoing any redistricting plans. So whatever Republican leaders ultimately approve will likely become law, given statements in support of the effort from multiple top Republicans in both the state Senate and the state House.

Democrats will have to turn to the courts to try to stop any new maps, as they have multiple times in past years. Once lawmakers approve a new map it’ll be the seventh congressional map since 2016. Many of those various maps have been drawn, struck down as unconstitutional, and drawn again, due to gerrymandering lawsuits against the legislature in state and federal court.

Analyzing the new map

Only one of North Carolina’s 14 U.S. House districts is considered competitive. That northeastern North Carolina district was won in 2024 by Davis, who was the target of pro-GOP gerrymandering in 2023 but won reelection anyway and is now also the target of the new GOP-drawn maps.

Davis has staked out a position in Congress as one of the more moderate Democratic members, sometimes crossing party lines to vote with Republicans on issues related to farming and immigration.

While the current version of his seat more or less reflects the closely divided nature of the state as a whole, the new version would not. It would essentially guarantee a GOP victory in any election except for a major Democratic wave, according to data provided by Republican lawmakers. Trump in 2024 would've won more than 55% of the vote in the new version of the district, substantially higher than his statewide margin of victory.

To turn Davis' district red, the new map would swap some more diverse and politically competitive counties he represents, including Wilson and Wayne, with some more heavily conservative counties currently represented by Rep. Greg Murphy, a Greenville Republican. Murphy's district would still favor Republican candidates but would be more competitive in the future. Murphy didn't respond to a request for comment.

The map also carves Davis' house in Snow Hill out of his district, placing it in Murphy's district. Members of Congress don't have to live in their districts, so that wouldn't necessarily stop Davis from running for reelection. But it was seen as a further twist of the knife from his former colleagues in the legislature, where Davis served as a state senator until winning election to Congress in 2022.

National redistricting wars

North Carolina is joining growing efforts nationally by Republicans and Democrats — in California, Texas and other states — to change maps ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Republicans hold 219 seats and Democrats hold 214 seats in the U.S. House after the results of a special election in Arizona last week. There are two vacancies.

Midterm elections, like the one in 2026, typically go poorly for the party that controls the White House, leaving Republicans worried about losing control of Congress next year.

Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College and author of a book on redistricting in North Carolina, says Republicans are justifiably worried about losing the House next year based on historical trends as well as real-time polling.

“What we generally tend to know is that the President's party will lose seats in Congress [during midterm elections] and, particularly, if they control Congress as well,” Bitzer told WRAL in an interview this week. “The mood of the country seems to be, a year out, moving against the president. His disapproval ratings are inching up.”

State lawmakers determine the voting districts in North Carolina. And Republicans control both chambers of the state’s General Assembly. That enables Republican leaders to draw voting maps that heavily favor their party — tactics that have been challenged in court but with mixed results. The GOP-majority North Carolina Supreme Court reversed precedent on partisan gerrymandering in 2023, giving the legislature wide latitude to draw maps.

Robert Reives, the House Minority Leader, released a statement earlier this week accusing Republicans of trying to steal a congressional seat while also having failed so far at the legislature’s main annual task of passing a new state budget.

“Instead of lowering costs for families or ensuring Medicaid can stay afloat, they are hellbent on consolidating as much power as they can," said Reives, D-Chatham, adding: "Call it what it is: They are stealing a congressional district in order to shield themselves from accountability at the ballot box.”

'Protect President Trump's agenda'

Texas redrew its map earlier this year to help Republicans win more districts. Republicans currently hold 25 of Texas’ 38 U.S. House seats. In California, where Democrats control the legislature, voters are scheduled next month to vote on a proposed congressional map that could help Democrats win more than the 43 of the 52 California seats that they currently hold.

Phil Berger, the Republican Senate leader, said last month that he would consider redistricting the state’s congressional districts in response to California.

“I’ve been watching what’s going on in California with Gavin Newsom trying to steal the Republican majority in Congress,” Berger wrote in a Sept. 25 X post, referring to the Democratic California governor. “We have drawn four Congressional maps in the last six years in redistricting fights with Democrats because of their sue-until-blue strategy. If we have to draw one more map this year, we will.”

In the same post, Berger denied an allegation that he had struck a deal with Trump to redraw the lines in exchange for an endorsement. Berger faces Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page in the GOP primary for his seat, which some view as the first serious challenge Berger has faced in years.

A policy group that campaigns against Republicans made the claim about the endorsement on social media, citing an unnamed source and characterizing it as “just a rumor.” The allegation spread on social media after being shared by Newsom and other politicians.

A spokesperson for Berger didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. In a statement Monday, he said North Carolina Republicans want to continue to build off of the “unprecedented wins” of Trump’s second term.

“We are doing everything we can to protect President Trump’s agenda, which means safeguarding Republican control of Congress,” Berger said. “Picking up where Texas left off, we will hold votes in our October session to redraw North Carolina’s congressional map to ensure Gavin Newsom doesn’t decide the congressional majority.”

In an interview on Tuesday, outgoing U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said state lawmakers should remain focused on the work that makes North Carolina stand out nationally.

“Just double down on that,” Tillis said. “If they think that redistricting is helpful to that, then do it. If it's not, then get back focused on the stuff that makes our state so great.”