BURSTThe North Carolina General Assembly will consider a new congressional map for the state next week, Republican leaders said Monday.
President Trump has urged GOP-controlled state legislatures across the country to redraw their maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
“We will stand with the President, defend the GOP majority, and secure an additional Republican congressional seat,” state House Speaker Destin Hall (R) said Monday on the social platform X.
Senate Leader Phil Berger (R) said in a press release that North Carolina Republicans are “doing everything we can to protect President Trump’s agenda, which means safeguarding Republican control of Congress.”
Berger added that the General Assembly will hold votes during its October session on redrawing North Carolina’s congressional map.
The move was met with swift criticism from North Carolina Democrats, including Gov. Josh Stein. In a press release, Stein said the General Assembly “works for North Carolina, not Donald Trump” and accused state Republican leaders of prioritizing redistricting over passing a budget, paying teachers and law enforcement and fully funding Medicaid.
“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,” Stein added.
Robert Reives, North Carolina’s House Democratic leader, said in a press release that Republicans “made clear today that they plan to come back to Raleigh and disenfranchise the voters of this state” and are “stealing a congressional district in order to shield themselves from accountability at the ballot box.”
Anderson Clayton, the chair of the state’s Democratic Party, called Hall and Berger “BOOTLICKERS” on X.
Republican-led states such as Texas and Missouri have already redrawn their maps with the intention of giving the GOP an edge in the midterms.
Blue states have responded in kind, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) backing a November ballot referendum to shift control of redistricting from an independent commission to the state Legislature. Other Democratic-controlled state legislatures, including those in New York and Maryland, are looking into their options.
North Carolina’s House delegation consists of 10 Republicans and four Democrats. According to the Cook Political Report’s 2025 Partisan Voting Index, only the state’s 1st District, currently represented by Rep. Don Davis (D), voted within fewer than 5 percentage points of the national average, making it a possible Republican pickup opportunity.
The state has also been decided by less than 4 percentage points in the last five presidential elections. However, the Democratic nominee has not won North Carolina since former President Obama defeated the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008. Prior to that, a Democrat had not won North Carolina since former President Carter in 1976.