North Carolina lawmakers will attempt to redraw congressional districts

Republican North Carolina lawmakers plan to redraw the state’s congressional map — a move that seeks to protect or expand the GOP’s control of the U.S. House of Representatives, state lawmakers said Monday.

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 draw new lines that could favor more GOP candidates.

President Donald Trump has called on Republicans across the nation to redraw congressional maps to help the GOP in next year’s midterm elections.

House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, referenced Trump’s history of carrying North Carolina in presidential elections as a reason legislative leaders should carry out his wishes.

“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,” Hall said in a statement.

Trump won the 2024 presidential election with 49.8% of the vote nationwide, including 50.9% in North Carolina.

Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, told North Carolinians in a statement that legislative leaders are “abusing their power to take away yours.”

“The General Assembly works for North Carolina, not Donald Trump,” Stein said, adding: “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, however, is banned from vetoing any redistricting plans. So whatever Republican leaders propose will almost certainly become law as long as both chambers are on board — a likely outcome, given statements in support of the effort Monday by multiple top Republicans in both the state Senate and the state House.

Only one of North Carolina’s 14 U.S. House districts is considered competitive. That northeastern North Carolina district was won in 2024 by Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat, who is expected to be the main target of the new GOP-drawn maps.

Davis told WRAL Monday this isn't the first time Republicans have targeted him via redistricting, going back to when he served in the state Senate, but that local voters have always kept reelecting him regardless. 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.

"Serving the hardworking families of the East is my unwavering commitment, regardless of party affiliation or the way the map is drawn, and I intend to continue in this work," Davis wrote. "Eastern North Carolina is my home, and our residents deserve a champion and fair representation."

National redistricting wars

The process of approving the new maps is expected to kick off next week when the state legislature returns to session. Once it does, North Carolina would join 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 on Tuesday. 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, said Republicans are correct to be 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 said. “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 accusing Republicans of trying to "steal" a congressional seat.

“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.”

Bitzer said Republicans are likely eyeing only Davis’ seat, but that if they feel like they can convince courts to go along, they could potentially try and get even more aggressive.

However, more aggressively drawn maps could have other pitfalls: Being more likely to be blocked in court before the election, or, if used in the election, possibly taking too many voters from other GOP-held seats and giving Democrats a better shot at flipping some of the state’s currently safe Republican districts.

But if Trump demands a more aggressively gerrymandered map, Bitzer said, state Republican leaders could find some options. “There are some very creative ways to be able to deal with the other three Democratic seats if they wanted to go to such an extreme,” he said.

'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 governor of the Golden State. “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.”

Berger threatens to redraw congressional districts, but denies talking to Trump about it

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.

In a statement Monday, Berger 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.”

Berger used to support redistricting reform back when Democrats controlled the legislature. Anti-gerrymandering advocate Bob Phillips, who leads the North Carolina chapter of Common Cause, called Berger’s about-face since taking power “the height of hypocrisy.”

Beyond that, Phillips said Monday, the last-minute push to redraw the maps before next year shows the legislature has all the wrong priorities.

“It’s totally unnecessary,” Phillips said in an interview. “When the state of North Carolina is one of four states in America without a state budget, and services and salaries aren't being addressed? To come back to rig a map for partisan advantage is beyond an insult to the citizens of the state.”

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.”