(The Center Square) – Calling out California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his strategy by name, North Carolina General Assembly leaders Phil Berger and Destin Hall say lawmakers will be in Raleigh this month to consider a new congressional map.
“President Trump delivered countless victories during his first term in office, and nine months into his second term he continues to achieve unprecedented wins,” said Berger, the eighth-term Republican Senate President Pro Tempore from Rockingham County. “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.”
North Carolina sends 14 members to the U.S. House of Representatives. Litigation by Democrats and other groups considered leaning left stalled implementation for 2022 a Legislative map as constitutionally required after the last decennial census. In 2024, the lawmakers’ map was in place.
One district is considered a battleground and has been won by a Democrat each election since 1882; the other 13 are 10-3 Republicans and all were decided by at least 13% in 2024.
In the U.S. House, there are 219 Republicans, 213 Democrats and three vacancies. California’s portion is 43-9 Democrats; Texas is 25-12 Republicans.
“President Trump earned a clear mandate from the voters of North Carolina and the rest of the country, and we intend to defend it by drawing an additional Republican congressional seat,” said Hall, the Republican first-term speaker of the House of Representatives from Caldwell County. “Our state won’t stand by while Democrats like Gavin Newsom redraw districts to aid in their effort to obtain a majority in the U.S. House. We will not allow them to undermine the will of the voters and President Trump’s agenda.”
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a new map into law on Sept. 28. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott did likewise on Aug. 29. California voters get a crack at a plan fro the Legislature in November.
Other states at varying levels of engagement that could alter the House majorities include Ohio, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland and New York.
“The General Assembly works for North Carolina, not Donald Trump,” first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein said in a statement. “The Republican leadership in the General Assembly has failed to pass a budget, failed to pay our teachers and law enforcement what they deserve, and failed to fully fund Medicaid. Now they are failing you, the voters. These shameless politicians are abusing their power to take away yours.
“I will always fight for you because the voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around.”
Rep. Robert Reives, D-Chatham, the minority leader of the lower chamber, said in a statement, “Republican lawmakers made clear today that they plan to come back to Raleigh and disenfranchise the voters of this state. Instead of lowering costs for families or ensuring Medicaid can stay afloat, they are hellbent on consolidating as much power as they can.
“Call it what it is: They are stealing a congressional district in order to shield themselves from accountability at the ballot box.”
“North Carolina was at the forefront of the Democrats’ sue-until-blue scheme,” said Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell. “And we’re prepared to bring forward a new congressional map to defeat this new scheme.”
He’s chairman of the Committee on Redistricting in his chamber. Reps. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, and Hugh Blackwell, R-Burke, have similar responsibility in the lower chamber.
In a joint statement, they said, “We’re stepping into this redistricting battle because California and the radical left are attempting to rig the system to handpick who runs Congress. This ploy is nothing new, and North Carolina will not stand by while they attempt to stack the deck. President Trump has called on us to fight back, and North Carolina stands ready to level the playing field.”
