North Carolina can use a redrawn congressional map during the 2026 midterm elections, a federal three-judge panel ruled on Wednesday.
Why it matters: It's a win for Republicans seeking to flip a U.S. House seat in N.C. amid President Trump's push for states to redistrict so the GOP can keep control of Congress after the 2026 midterm elections.
What we're watching: Representatives for the NAACP, which is among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to Axios' Wednesday night request for comment on whether it would appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
State of play: The judges in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of N.C. wrote in their ruling that the plaintiffs "presented no direct evidence" that the Republicans' redistricting drive would violate racial discrimination laws.
- "Instead, the direct evidence shows that the 2025 redistricting was motivated by partisan purposes," the ruling added.
- That means a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that cases about partisan gerrymandering are "beyond the reach of the federal courts" would apply in this case.
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