Analysis: Republicans in N.C. General Assembly to Vote on New Congressional District Map for State

By William Hinson, staff writer

Oct. 17, 2025

Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly have announced plans to vote next week on a new congressional district map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The move comes as President Donald Trump has called on Republican state legislators across the country to adopt new congressional district maps for their states that are more favorable to the GOP.

Republicans presently hold large majorities in both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly, occupying 30 out of 50 seats in the North Carolina Senate and 71 out of 120 seats in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

North Carolina currently has 14 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, having gained a single seat following congressional reapportionment after the 2020 Census. Of those seats, ten are currently held by the Republicans and four are occupied by the Democrats. Only one district, NC-01, currently represented by Democrat Don Davis, is considered a swing district. Davis won his most recent election in 2024 by less than two percentage points, with President Trump simultaneously narrowly winning the district in the 2024 presidential election. Analysts believe Davis’ district will be the most likely target for North Carolina Republicans as they seek to net another seat in the state’s U.S. House delegation.

At the start of the decade, North Carolina’s U.S. House delegation was evenly split, with seven Republicans and seven Democrats. However, in 2023, the Republican-led General Assembly enacted a new map that allowed for the Republicans to flip three seats that had been previously held by the Democrats.

If the new map is adopted, North Carolina would become the third state to enact new congressional district maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, following the states of Texas and Missouri, which both recently passed new congressional district maps that are more Republican friendly.

North Carolina is not alone among states that are considering mid-decade redistricting. Other states -- including Florida, Indiana, Kansas and Louisiana -- are also considering enacting new congressional district maps that, if adopted, would likely net the Republican Party additional seats in the House of Representatives during the 2026 midterm elections.

Notably, voters in the state of California will be voting on Proposition 50 which, if passed, would enact a new Democratic-favorable congressional district map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. This would likely net the party around five seats that are currently occupied by Republicans. California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom called on the ballot initiative to be put before voters this year in response to the Republican-led mid-decade redistricting attempts taking place in Texas and in other states across the country.

The news of the Republican-led mid-decade redistricting attempt here in North Carolina is receiving mixed reactions in Raleigh, with many Republicans defending the move and quickly citing President Donald Trump’s 2024 victory in the state as the primary reason for the redistricting push in the wake of attacks from Democrats.

N.C. House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) said in a statement, “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. 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.”

N.C. Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said of the redistricting efforts, “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.”

North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, has been sharply critical of the attempt to redraw the state’s congressional district boundaries, stating that “the General Assembly works for North Carolina, not Donald Trump.” Gov. Stein added, “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.”

President Trump carried the state of North Carolina with 50.86% of the vote in 2024 to Kamala Harris’ 47.65%.