Republican lawmakers in North Carolina announced plans on Monday to redraw the state’s already gerrymandered congressional maps to further favor their party. It’s the latest effort to help the Trump administration retain control of the U.S. House in the midterm elections next year.
Phil Berger, the State Senate leader, and Destin Hall, the speaker of the State House of Representatives, said in a joint statement that they would hold votes next week on the rare mid-decade redistricting effort. Republicans control the legislature, and Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, cannot veto redistricting plans, per the State Constitution.
Republicans already control 10 of the state’s 14 congressional seats. Mr. Hall said in the statement that Republican lawmakers would seek to secure one more seat, though he did not specify where. The most likely target is the First Congressional District, which has the state’s only competitive House seat, which is currently held by Representative Don Davis, a Democrat.
The proposed redrawing in North Carolina comes as the Trump administration has pushed Republican-led states to redraw House district maps to strengthen his party’s majority in the chamber before the midterm elections. That effort took off over the summer in Texas, at the urging of Gov. Greg Abbott. Lawmakers there approved a map that could give Republicans up to five more seats in the U.S. House.
In response to Texas’ actions, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a Democrat, pressed his state’s Legislature to approve a new map that could flip as many as five Republican-held House seats to Democrats. That map will require the approval of California voters in November.
Since then, other states, including Missouri and Indiana, have either taken part in gerrymandering or threatened to do so before 2026.
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The post North Carolina Republicans Plan to Redraw Congressional Map to Add a Seat appeared first on New York Times.
