RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Republican legislative leaders announced plans Monday to vote next week on redrawing the state’s district map, likely aiming to pick up another GOP seat in already right-leaning boundaries.
This decision comes in the middle of a new battle of the middle of the decade nationally, between Republicans and Democrats seeking to gain an advantage in how House districts are drawn across several states for the 2026 session.
North Carolina Republicans already created a map in 2023 that had GOP candidates winning 10 of the state’s 14 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2024. This split is compared to the 7-7 seat split between Democrats and GOP under the map used in 2022.
Now, only one of the state’s House districts — the 1st District currently represented by Democratic Rep. Don Davis — is considered a swing district and could be targeted by the GOP for an 11th seat. Davis won a second term last year by less than 2 percentage points, so slightly moving parts of the district spanning nearly 20 Northeast counties could help a Republican candidate in a strong GOP year.
A news release from state Republican lawmakers said their planned action “follows President Donald Trump’s call urging legislatures across the country to take action to overturn Democrats’ redistricting efforts.”
Asset kicked off the redistricting battle this summer by calling on Republican-led Texas to reshape its U.S. congressional districts so the Republican Party can win more seats in next year’s elections.
As Texas redraws its districts to give Republicans a chance to win five additional seats, Texas Democrats California returned the favor by passing their own redistricting plan aimed at helping Democrats win five more seats. Then lawmakers from Republican-led Missouri approved revised The U.S. House of Representatives districts were intended to help Republicans gain an additional seat.
New Texas map faces legal challenge. California’s map still must be approved by voters in the Nov. 4 election to take effect. And Missouri’s map faces both legal challenges and a petition drive to force a statewide referendum.
