A three-judge panel in North Carolina turned down a challenge to new redistricting plans on Wednesday. This is happening while other states work to redistrict the whole country. The justices decided that the plaintiffs didn’t prove that the redistricting process was unfair to black people in North Carolina.
The judges said that the plaintiffs failed to show that the redistricting process discriminated against black North Carolinians.
“Although the court’s decision keeps North Carolina at the center of this national mid-decade redistricting battle, we will continue to show eastern North Carolina families why they matter most,” he said. “We will not let these blatant power grabs silence the voices of eastern North Carolinians.”
A nationwide redistricting battle is unfolding, largely encouraged by President Trump, as Republican-led legislatures across several states face growing pressure from the former president and his allies to create additional GOP-leaning congressional districts and solidify the party’s House majority.
In North Carolina, Republican lawmakers advanced a new congressional map, joining a series of states—including Texas and Missouri—undertaking aggressive redistricting efforts ahead of next year’s midterm elections. The proposed map would target the district currently represented by Democratic Rep. Don Davis and give Republicans a likely advantage in 11 of the state’s 14 House seats, up from the current 10.
Once enacted, North Carolina’s new map would bring the number of newly drawn, Republican-favored districts nationwide this year to seven.
North Carolina has become the latest GOP-controlled state to launch a mid-decade redistricting effort — a process that has historically been uncommon, CNN reported.
North Carolina Sen. Ralph Hise, a Republican involved in overseeing the redistricting process, emphasized the high stakes of the effort in blunt terms.
“The motivation behind this redraw is simple and singular: draw a new map that will bring an additional Republican seat to the congressional delegation,” he said.
If Democrats take control of the House, they will “torpedo President Trump’s agenda,” Hise noted further, per CNN.
State lawmakers convened their first public meeting on the new congressional map Monday morning and approved the proposal in the state Senate the following day, despite strong opposition from Democrats and protesters who gathered at the Capitol in Raleigh.
The measure now heads to the state House for consideration.
Under North Carolina law, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein does not have the authority to veto redistricting plans, CNN said.
North Carolina remains a battleground state, with Democrats such as Stein and former Gov. Roy Cooper winning statewide elections in recent years. However, Republican leaders this week defended the newly drawn congressional map’s partisan tilt, arguing that it reflects Trump’s continued electoral successes there.
“This new map respects the will of the North Carolina voters who sent President Trump to the White House three times,” the state Sen. Phil Berger, the top Republican in the Senate, said in a statement, according to CNN.
Republican lawmakers in Texas initiated the latest round of redistricting earlier this year with a map designed to create five additional GOP-leaning congressional districts. In Missouri, Republicans approved new district boundaries aimed at adding one more Republican seat to the state’s delegation.
Both maps face ongoing legal challenges, and in Missouri, activists have launched a petition drive seeking to overturn the new plan.
Republicans currently hold a structural advantage in the redistricting process, controlling the governor’s office and both legislative chambers in 23 states, compared with 15 under full Democratic control.
Several other GOP-led states are also considering new congressional maps.
