Republican leaders in North Carolina said they will redraw their state’s congressional maps to add another Republican seat, becoming the latest in a growing list of states conducting mid-decade gerrymandering to favor one party before the 2026 midterms.
Legislative leaders in the southern state said they would use an October legislative session to “block the efforts of blue state Democrats to take control of Congress from Republicans” after Donald Trump had called on state legislatures to undertake redistricting to defend their congressional majority.
The quest for new districts started in Texas, where the legislature voted in August to add five Republican seats despite staunch opposition from Democrats. California retaliated, pushing a ballot measure that will redraw the state’s maps to add five Democratic seats. Voters there will decide on the measure in November. Other Republican-led states, including Missouri and Indiana, have also sought to redraw maps to add more Republican seats.
North Carolina, a swing state, has 14 congressional districts, 10 of which are held by Republicans. Before 2023, the state was evenly split in its representation, but that year the state debuted gerrymandered maps which made North Carolina and Texas the “two most extreme congressional maps currently in place”, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
In statements on Sunday, North Carolina’s Republican legislative leaders cast blame on Democrats for their redistricting plan, naming Gavin Newsom’s quest to redraw districts in California. Destin Hall, the North Carolina house speaker, said Trump won a “clear mandate” from the state, so the legislature intends “to defend it by drawing an additional Republican Congressional seat”.
Phil Berger, the North Carolina senate leader, said: “We are doing everything we can to protect President Trump’s agenda, which means safeguarding Republican control of Congress. Picking up where Texas left off, we will hold votes in our October session to redraw North Carolina’s congressional map to ensure Gavin Newsom doesn’t decide the congressional majority.”
On X, Newsom derided North Carolina leaders for blaming him. “Oh look, another lap dog Republican desperate to suck up to Trump,” he wrote in response to Berger’s statement. “The GOP is rigging elections and trying to cover it up with lies.”
North Carolina Democrats called a rally for next Tuesday, saying: “We need to be outside the general assembly. A seat in the US House of Representatives is on the line.”
