NC NEWSLINE – North Carolina Republicans are quickly advancing a plan to add another Republican seat to the state’s congressional delegation. A state Senate committee on Monday adopted a plan that would likely make one more district unwinnable for a Democrat.
Republicans are redrawing the northeast 1st Congressional District to be more advantageous for the GOP — a move that will likely flip control of the seat as President Donald Trump aims to maintain Republican control of the House after the midterms.
“The motivation behind this redraw is simple and singular,” Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell), said as he presented the plan at the Senate Elections Committee. “Republicans hold a razor-thin margin in the United States House of Representatives. And if Democrats flip four seats in the upcoming midterm elections, they will take control of the House and torpedo President Trump’s agenda.”
Trump posted a message on social media thanking North Carolina Republicans for the new map, writing it would give the state the opportunity to elect another MAGA Republican next year. He said he was “watching, and strongly supporting” the redistricting effort.
Mid-decade redistricting is not unusual in North Carolina because state and federal courts have struck down maps found to be illegal. But this is likely the first mid-decade redistricting with the express intent to help a president avoid a midterm slump.
U.S. Rep. Don Davis, one of the most conservative Democrats in the House, won a second term last year by less than 2 percentage points after Republicans redrew the district in 2023 to be more Republican-friendly. The 1st district is currently rated a “toss-up” for 2026 by the Cook Political Report — North Carolina’s only competitive House seat.
The current configuration of the district is part of a federal lawsuit over the dilution of Black voting power. Hise said the new plan would stand up to legal challenges.
“We will defend these maps, and I am confident they will be held by the courts,” he said Monday.
With the new map, the state’s congressional delegation would move to 11 Republicans and three Democrats. Republicans currently hold 10 seats to Democrats’ four.
Stein: “Cynical power grab”
North Carolina is among several states drawn into the redistricting wars in recent months.
Texas was the first state to redistrict at Trump’s behest. Missouri followed. In response to the Texas redistricting, California Democrats approved a ballot measure that would add Democratic seats in that state. Voters there will decide in November whether to approve the new map.
North Carolina Democrats cannot prevent passage of district maps Republicans want. The GOP holds majorities in both the state House and Senate. And Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, is not permitted by law to veto the map.
Stein called the redrawn map a “cynical power grab” during a news conference Monday morning.
“The Republican legislature is abusing its power to take away yours,” Stein said, as he urged lawmakers to instead pass new spending for the state’s mental health system and Medicaid.
And he praised Davis, whom he said he had not personally spoken to, saying that Davis’s winning record in the district spoke to his ability to represent it well.
“Don Davis won because he is who they want,” Stein said. “The people of that district chose him … and now the Republican legislature is trying to take away the ability for the people of that district to make their own independent choice, by rigging the system so much that it becomes difficult, if not impossible, for Rep. Davis to win.”
Hearing room cleared after outburst from audience
Hise’s committee presentation drew derisive laughter from members of the public who attended the meeting.
All public comment was negative, with the redrawn map being described as a racist power grab done at the request of a wannabe dictator.
Robert Yhl of Raleigh said the plan is a tool of voter suppression.
“It makes more sense to me for the legislature to do what their people elected it to do, and that is to conduct business for the people and not conduct activities ordered by a convicted felon,” he said.
As the committee prepared to vote, the audience began chanting “Racist maps make racist reps.” The committee room was emptied of most public spectators.
After the meeting, Sen. Gladys Robinson (D-Guilford), called the map “blatant racism.”
“Black people will not have representation in terms of ability to elect a person that they want,” she said. “Don Davis will be gone.”
Earlier this month, a rumor circulated that Senate Leader Phil Berger, who is being challenged in the next primary by his local sheriff, would redistrict in exchange for a Trump endorsement. Berger denied the rumor.
During Monday’s committee meeting, Senate Democratic leader Sydney Batch (D-Wake) pressed Hise on communication between Berger, other Republican senators, and the White House.
Hise said he didn’t talk to anyone from the White House, but couldn’t answer for anyone else.
Northeast U.S. House district has elected Black lawmakers for decades
The 1st District is historically significant. The district has elected a Black representative since 1992, when Eva Clayton became the first Black candidate since 1898 to win a U.S. House seat from North Carolina.
Though it has mutated over the years, the district has been anchored by counties that are part of the Black Belt in the eastern part of the state. The South’s Black Belt was named for its fertile soil. The majority Black populations in some of the district’s counties, including Halifax, Hertford, and Bertie, are part of the legacy of slavery.
Several of those counties are moved out of the 1st District under the proposed map and into the 3rd, represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy. One of them, Greene County, is where Davis lives, although congressional candidates are not required to live in the districts they run in.
Clayton and G.K. Butterfield, who have both previously represented the district, released a joint statement Monday through Common Cause NC, strongly criticizing the new map.
“The proposed congressional map would silence communities that have long been the backbone of northeastern North Carolina, fracturing counties and towns that share common bonds of history, economy and hope,” Clayton and Butterfield said. “This is not merely a political act — it is a moral regression.”
And the pair added that they were “offended that the people … have not been given ample opportunity to provide their input.”
“This is not how democracy is supposed to work,” Clayton and Butterfield said.
