Republican state senators in North Carolina have answered President Donald Trump’s plea to gerrymander the state’s congressional map so the GOP may maintain its tenuous U.S. House majority in 2026.
The state Senate on Tuesday passed a Trump-approved map that—if adopted, as expected, by the state House this week—would oust Democratic U.S. Representative Don Davis, one of North Carolina’s three Black members of Congress, from his seat.
The governor, a Democrat, is barred under state law from vetoing redistricting maps, so the only possible redress would come from the courts, which are likely to hear cases arguing that the new maps disenfranchise Black voters.
North Carolina would be the latest state, joining Texas and Missouri, to do rare, mid-decade redistricting at Trump’s behest, with Republicans in a handful of other red states, including Florida, Louisiana, Indiana, Kansas, and Ohio, possibly gearing up to follow suit.
During debate over the new North Carolina map, GOP lawmakers were not shy about the naked partisanship behind them.
“The motivation behind this redraw is simple and singular: Draw a new map that will bring an additional Republican seat to the North Carolina congressional delegation,” said Republican state Senator Ralph Hise, who helped lead the redistricting effort. “Republicans hold a razor-thin margin in the United States House of Representatives, and if Democrats flip four seats in the upcoming midterm elections, they will take control of the House and torpedo Trump’s agenda.”
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