The North Carolina state Senate approved a new congressional map that seeks to write Rep. Don Davis (D-NC) out of his district, the latest step by a state GOP to try and bolster national Republicans’ slim majority in the House.
The Senate adopted the new map on Tuesday, with the state House expected to approve it later this week. The map redraws the lines to add one more seat to the Republicans’ delegation to Washington, D.C., and, given that Gov. Josh Stein (D-NC) has no veto power, Democrats have virtually no options other than a lawsuit to prevent Davis from being targeted.
If Davis is written out of his district, this will bring Republicans to an 11-3 delegation. The remaining Democrats would be Reps. Deborah Ross, Valerie Foushee, and Alma Adams.
Davis’s seat already is leaning toward Republicans by three points; under the new map, the GOP would have an 11-point advantage in his district.
North Carolina has seen this before. Ahead of the 2024 election, redistricting in the state caused a handful of Democrats to lose their seats, which heavily factored into Republicans’ ability to maintain their slim majority in the House.
The Tar Heel State is the latest to engage in redistricting to widen the slim margins in the U.S. House, which has made passing contentious legislation difficult for the GOP, who hold the trifecta.
North Carolina Republicans have not been shy to say that they seek to follow President Donald Trump’s orders to bring additional Republicans to Washington through redistricting, which he already achieved thanks to efforts in Texas.
“President Trump has called on Republican-controlled states across the country to redraw congressional districts. This map answers that call,” GOP state Sen. Ralph Hise, who helped spearhead the map through the chamber, said during floor debate this week.
Trump himself praised the new North Carolina map last week. In a post to Truth Social, he called it a “new, fair, and improved” map that would give the “fantastic people of North Carolina the opportunity to elect an additional MAGA Republican” in the 2026 midterms.
After Texas engaged in redistricting that added five new GOP seats to the delegation, California is working to alter its maps to write out five vulnerable House Republicans as a countermeasure to even the playing field.
But Democrats do not have enough seats to counter redistricting if states such as Indiana, Florida, and Missouri decide to alter their maps, as well.
KAVANAUGH QUESTIONS WHEN ‘ENDPOINT’ FOR RACE-BASED REDISTRICTING WILL BE
The “race to the bottom” redistricting wars have upset Democrats and Republicans alike, with Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) pushing Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for a vote on his bill to ban mid-decade redistricting. Redistricting normally happens after the U.S. Census, which is taken every 10 years.
Kiley, who represents a R+2 district, could be one of the Republicans losing their seat if Proposition 50 passes on Nov. 4 and allows for California to temporarily circumvent its independent redistricting commission to allow the Democratic-led legislature to draw new maps.