By: Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
On Tuesday morning, hundreds of North Carolinians rallied on the grounds of the legislature in protest of a newly proposed congressional map, part of the Republican effort to maintain the majority for the 2026 midterm elections.
The demonstration featured speeches from lawmakers and grassroots leaders alike. It came as the Republican-led House prepared to debate a redistricting proposal that would redraw the state’s 14 congressional districts in a way that bolsters GOP control, shifting the current 10-4 Republican advantage to a likely 11-3 split—leaving no competitive seats and jeopardizing the state of one of North Carolina’s few Black representatives, Rep. Don Davis.
Democrats have condemned the proposal as racially and politically motivated, citing former President Donald Trump's direct influence on GOP lawmakers' decision-making.
"You know, the last 24 hours have been insane… The amount of disdain and disrespect Republicans have, not only for the voters, but also for the Democrats that serve in this building is outrageous," said Senate Democratic Leader SYDNEY BATCh (Wake). "On Thursday, the maps dropped. On Monday, we had a committee. And he started the committee with this: ‘We did it because President Trump told us.’
Batch was likely referencing Senate Deputy President Pro Tempore RALPH HISE, who said publicly on Monday, presenting the plan at the Senate Elections Committee, “The motivation behind this redraw is simple and singular: 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.”
Protesters arrived by the busload from Charlotte, where the "All Aboard for Fair Maps" bus departed from Hornets Nest Park early Tuesday morning. Many were galvanized by the recent “No Kings Day” protests—a national day of action that saw an estimated 5 million people demonstrate across the country against authoritarianism and political overreach.
In Raleigh, chants of "No kings!" echoed through the crowd as they marched around the legislature. Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, told the crowd:
“We are here to show the General Assembly that people across this state and across this nation are watching them!”
Democratic leaders seized the rally as an opportunity to reframe the redistricting fight as a moral battle for the soul of democracy in North Carolina.
“The North Carolina General Assembly stole three seats from the people of North Carolina,” said U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross. “And the consequences have hurt Americans from coast to coast. It cost us the U.S. House. It’s costing millions of Americans their Medicaid.”
The proposed map would effectively erase Rep. Don Davis’s eastern North Carolina district by carving up majority-Black areas and replacing them with whiter, more conservative counties. Under the new plan, Davis’s home would be placed into Rep. Greg Murphy’s district.
Davis responded with a statement on Tuesday that pushed back against the supposed necessity of the redrawing:
“Since the start of this new term, my office has received 46,616 messages from constituents of different political parties, including those unaffiliated, expressing a range of opinions, views, and requests. Not a single one of them included a request for a new congressional map redrawing eastern North Carolina. Clearly, this new congressional map is beyond the pale."
The changes to Davis’s district would have made it all but unwinnable for a Democrat in 2024 — Trump would have carried the new version of the district with over 55% of the vote.
Inside the Senate chamber, Sen. Michael Garrett (Guilford) proposed a bold alternative: instead of enacting the map, he suggested putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot to let voters decide if the legislature should keep its redistricting powers.
Republicans swiftly rejected the proposal without comment.
The erasure of eastern North Carolina’s Black representation hit home for many at the rally. U.S. Rep. Alma Adams reflected on the legacy at stake:
“And in that district, in the East, we've had Black representation for the past 30 years. And so they are disenfranchising people. And you might not like what I have to say, or you might not like what I do. But listen, I deserve to have a vote and be fairly represented,” Adams said. “It's good to strategize. It's good to agonize—but it's time for us to put the agony aside and organize!”
The redistricting bill passed the state Senate in a series of party-line votes on Monday and Tuesday. The House was expected to vote this week, although the final vote may be delayed. With Republican supermajorities in both chambers, and with Gov. Josh Stein unable to veto redistricting legislation, the bill is almost certain to become law.
Democrats are banking on the court of public opinion to undo the map, whether through regaining control of the legislature or flipping the state Supreme Court.
