North Carolina Republican Party

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Republican lawmakers on Thursday offered a redrawn map of U.S. House districts for North Carolina, seeking to help President Donald Trump retain GOP control of Congress by trying to thwart the re-election of the Democrat who now holds the state’s only swing seat.

House and Senate Republican leaders unveiled the proposed boundaries ahead of next week’s General Assembly session, entering the national contest over mid-decade redistricting that has Democrats and Republicans fighting to secure electoral advantages from coast to coast, including Texas and California. Republicans announced earlier this week that lawmakers would return to Raleigh to debate and vote on a plan put forward in response to Trump’s call to secure more Republican seats before the 2026 midterm elections.

An intensely competitive midterm election looms in which Democrats need to gain just three seats to take control of the House. The president’s party has historically lost seats in midterm elections, something Trump is trying to avoid.

Republicans already approved a North Carolina map in 2023 that resulted in GOP candidates winning 10 of the state’s 14 U.S. House seats in 2024. That compares to a 7-7 seat split between Democrats and Republicans under the map used in 2022.

As anticipated, Thursday’s boundaries appear, based on past election results, to focus on helping the GOP win the 1st District seat in northeastern North Carolina currently held by Democratic Rep. Don Davis. He won a second term in 2024 by less than 2 percentage points.

The redrawn First District boundaries would encompass several coastal counties and eliminate others inland, including Greene County, Davis’ home county, to create a slightly more right-wing First District. Greene and others would be placed in a redrawn Third District currently represented by Republican Rep. Greg Murphy, which based on election results would appear to become slightly less friendly to the GOP.

Other western districts would remain intact. Based on the results of several past state elections attached to the map, Republicans would have a good chance of winning 11 of North Carolina’s 14 seats.

Republican lawmakers did not make formal comments on the proposal and invited the public to comment online. But with an image of the new map, Senate Leader Phil Berger wrote Thursday on X that the General Assembly “stands ready to help Republicans secure Congress and advance @realDonaldTrump’s agenda.”

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The Republican Party has a majority in both the state House and Senate. The state constitution prevents Democratic Gov. Josh Stein from using his veto seal on redistricting plans.

The national redistricting battle began over the summer when Trump urged Republican-led Texas to redraw its U.S. House districts. After Texas lawmakers acted, California Democrats reciprocated by approving their own plan that still needs voter approval in November.

Other North Carolina Democrats have criticized Republicans for trying to help Trump, accusing the GOP of trying to steal a seat won by Davis, one of North Carolina’s three black representatives. The current 1st District contains some majority-black counties. A reshaped First District could lead to litigation alleging illegal racial bias.

The redistricting action would come even as North Carolina Republican lawmakers are more than three months behind on passing a state budget and cannot finalize how to increase Medicaid spending.

“Instead, we’re talking about redistricting again because Republicans believe that if they can’t win fairly, they’re going to turn things around, cheat, and win that,” Democratic state Rep. Sarah Crawford said Thursday at a state Democratic Party news conference.

Davis, a former state lawmaker and Air Force veteran, cited regional concerns in a social media post Thursday night.

Eastern North Carolina families “are struggling and feel like Washington, DC, is broken. I understand these concerns well,” Davis wrote in