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Donald Trump has asked MAGA acolytes in red states to redraw congressional district maps mid-decade to help fend off losing control of the U.S. House in 2026.
Democrats from around North Carolina are headed in busses to Raleigh this morning. They mean to protest the Republican effort to wring another Republican congressional seat from the state’s current 10R-4D delegation. The new map aims to make NC-1, an eastern district now held by Rep. Don Davis, more winnable by a Republican without threatening Republican Rep. Greg Murphy next door in NC-03. Trump is pleased.
Princeton’s Gerrymandering Project gives the proposed new map an “F” grade for fairness.
Donald Trump won North Carolina’s electoral votes in 2024 by 50.9% to 47.7% for Kamala Harris. NC-3 went uncontested by Democrats last year. Still, Democrats won 45.4% of the statewide congressional vote. Republicans won 54.6% but garnered 71.4% of seats. They’re gunning for 78.6% with the new map.
North Carolina has had multiple congressional maps since 2020. A court-ordered map redraw to restore a fair balance yielded a split of 7D-7R after the 2022 midterms. Then decisions by SCOTUS and a newly Republican state Supreme Court landed us where we were last November: 10R-4D.
The newest map (redrawn in a back room somewhere) advanced in the legislature on Monday. Democracy Docket reports:
President Donald Trump’s effort to rig the 2026 election spread to another GOP-controlled state Monday as North Carolina lawmakers advanced a gerrymandered map, clearing the way for a floor vote.
Ahead of the vote, North Carolina voters were escorted out of the hearing after reportedly chanting: “Racist maps make racist reps.”
WRAL elaborates:
The Senate Elections Committee approved a new map released last week by state legislative leaders — the first official legislative approval in a multi-step process that is expected to give North Carolina Republicans another seat in Congress. The approval came as protesters accused Republican lawmakers of racism; the changes are expected to oust one of the state’s three Black members of Congress, by carving up an area of eastern North Carolina with a large Black population.
Redistricting Watch Rally in Raleigh, Oct. 21st, 11:30am
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