RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday gave final approval to a new congressional map intended to pick up another seat for Republicans, undercutting the influence of Black voters in a district they have historically dominated and heeding President Donald Trump’s nationwide demand for more favorable maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Republicans in the state House passed the new map 66-48 over the fierce objection of Democrats, who debated for just an hour before Rep. John Bell moved to cut off debate and proceed to a vote. The map has already passed the Senate and the state constitution prohibits Democratic Gov. Josh Stein from vetoing the map, so it now becomes law.

House Democratic Leader Robert Reives, who was permitted to respond before the vote, said the map presented a grave omen for “our independence, our democracy.”

“I can’t watch it die like this, but it seems like I’m going to have to,” he said. “I would ask that you mark this day, because one day they’re coming to you, they’re going to ask you to do something that you just can’t do. And because we have set the precedent that only one man in this party matters, you’re going home.”

Since introducing the new map, Republicans have been frank about their intentions, admitting openly that the goal is to draw a new safe seat for the GOP and fend off Democrats’ chances of winning a majority in Congress in 2026.

“It’s a fact that we will send one more Republican to Congress from this great state,” House Majority Leader Brenden Jones, a Columbus County Republican, said. “You can be mad about redistricting all you want, but you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself, what got us here.”

Recent rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court and North Carolina Supreme Court have effectively legalized partisan gerrymandering, allowing lawmakers to brazenly draw maps in their own party’s favor without fear of legal reprisal.

The new map replaces an only two-year-old congressional map that was already aggressively gerrymandered in Republicans’ favor.

In 2024, Republicans won 10 of the state's 14 congressional seats despite winning 53% of the statewide congressional vote. Now, they could take 11 seats and increase Republicans’ chance of holding a majority in Congress, even as Trump faces low approval ratings.

When a court-appointed group of experts drew the state’s congressional map for the 2022 midterms, it results in an even seven Democrats and seven Republicans winning seats.

Rapid rollout with scant public input

Wednesday’s vote comes less than a week after the new map was released to the public, marking a particularly rapid rollout with few opportunities for input from the public.

In previous years, lawmakers held public forums to hear from voters in the affected districts. This year, lawmakers heard public comment in two committee hearings in Raleigh in which each speaker was limited to one minute. Lawmakers also accepted public comment via an online portal which, as of Wednesday, had received over 12,000 comments, according to Democratic Rep. Beth Helfrich, of Mecklenburg County.

“Behold the process that led to today: secretive, dismissive, six days long from end to end, and frankly, disrespectful of the people of North Carolina,” Rep. Phil Rubin, a Wake County Democrat, said. “... You have treated them as obstacles to be managed.”

Hundreds of protesters rallied against the map at the state Capitol on Tuesday while Democrats, joined by North Carolina’s first Black congresswoman, Eva Clayton, accused Republicans of disenfranchising a historically Black community.

“They want to lock in that no Democrat, and especially no Black Democrat, will ever win again,” Clayton said at a news conference.

Republican lawmakers repeatedly stated that they did not use racial data when drawing the map.

National redistricting war

North Carolina is the latest state to enter the national redistricting wars, which began this summer when Texas Republicans enacted a Trump-backed plan to flip five Democratic seats in their favor.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly announced a retaliatory plan to pick up five Democratic seats in his state’s own congressional map. That plan must now be approved by the state’s voters.

Despite the fact that Texas was the first state to redistrict this year, Republican lawmakers repeatedly stated that California began the redistricting fight and necessitated redrawing North Carolina’s congressional map.

“We’re here today because California and the radical left launched a full-fledged coordinated attack not only on North Carolina, but the integrity of democracy itself,” Jones said.

“... Republican-led states are here to make sure that one man does not predetermine the control of Congress.”

Republican state lawmakers have repeatedly and explicitly stated that they decided to redraw North Carolina’s map because Trump asked for it.

While they proudly admitted to heeding the president’s call, legislative leaders said they have not had specific conversations with the Trump administration about the new map.

Nevertheless, Trump endorsed the effort last week, writing on social media that it would give North Carolinians “an opportunity to elect an additional MAGA Republican.”

Senate leader Phil Berger, who faces a contentious primary election against Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, has denied claims that he agreed to redraw the state’s map in exchange for an endorsement from Trump.

“That’s a ridiculous accusation,” Berger told reporters Monday. “Unfounded, unsupported and simply not true.”

Legal challenges ahead

While partisan gerrymandering is no longer a viable legal challenge, the new map is still expected to be challenged in court.

Because it primarily affects a historically racial minority district, critics are expected to sue over racial gerrymandering, arguing that the map illegally dilutes the voting power of Black residents. In fact, the current congressional map is already being challenged in federal court for the same reason.

However, a federal judge recently rejected a similar case that challenged North Carolina’s state Senate districts, writing that there was a lack of “contemporary evidence of intentional discrimination concerning the right to vote against Black voters.”

And an upcoming ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court could gut Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which has formed the legal basis for racial gerrymandering cases for decades.

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