Republicans will have a 220-215 majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, with several seats flipped and the return of congressional map drawing to the Legislature in North Carolina pivotal.
Litigation after the census led to three special masters putting together the maps for the 2022 midterms. North Carolina sent seven members from each major party to the Beltway. On Nov. 5, 10 Republicans and four Democrats were winners.
A 7-7 split in the state this time would have left the House 218-217 in favor of Democrats. The last race in the country to be called was early Wednesday morning in California’s 13th Congressional District, where Democrat Adam Gray unseated Republican Rep. John Duarte by less than 200 votes.
That said, there’s context. Map redistricting in Alabama and Louisiana enabled Democrats to gain a seat in each state. New York and Georgia also had different maps than two years ago.
North Carolina is known as a purple state, meaning toss-up and not a lean to Democrats or Republicans. Voters have patterns – 13 of 15 election cycles over 60 years have gone Republican for presidential picks, yet only three Republicans have won the governor’s race since 1900. The GOP hasn’t won the attorney general’s race since 1896.
Donald Trump, the nation’s 45th and come Jan. 20 the 47th president, has won the state three times. On Nov. 5, he carried 78 of 100 counties. His victory of more than 183,000 votes was 50.9%-47.7% over Vice President Kamala Harris.
At Election Day, Republicans held a 221-213 majority with two vacancies in the House.
Seven Republicans and four Democrats lost reelection campaigns. In addition, four members – Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri, and Republican Reps. Jerry Carl of Alabama and Bob Good of Virginia – were beaten in primaries, though their party retained the seat in the general election.
In the case of Carl, he and Rep. Barry Moore were drawn into the same district after serving the 1st Congressional and 2nd Congressional, respectively, following wins two years ago.
Republicans from North Carolina returning to Washington are Reps. Dr. Greg Murphy (3rd Congressional District), Virginia Foxx (5th), David Rouzer (7th), Richard Hudson (9th) and Chuck Edwards (11th). Newcomers are Addison McDowell (6th), Rev. Mark Harris (8th), Pat Harrigan (10th), Brad Knott (13th) and record-setting state House Speaker Tim Moore (14th).
Democrats from North Carolina serving inside the Beltway will be incumbent Reps. Don Davis (1st), Deborah Ross (2nd), Valerie Foushee (4th) and Alma Adams (12th).
