Court denies stay of gerrymandered congressional districts

ADOBE STOCK

A federal court panel denied a stay of Republican-drawn redistricting in North Carolina, opening the door for the GOP to claim 11 of 14 congressional seats in the 2026 midterm elections.

A federal court has upheld North Carolina’s new congressional map, which gives Republicans a chance at holding 11 of 14 seats.

The panel on Nov. 26 voted to allow the redrawn lines, which changes congressional districts 1 and 3 and improves the chances of adding another Republican seat. A lawsuit filed last month that sought to block the changes argued the redrawing disproportionately impacts Black voters. 

In October, the General Assembly redrew the districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections without new Census data or a court order to redistrict. 

The opinion was signed by Judges Allison Rushing, Richard Myers II, and Thomas Schroeder, all of whom were appointed by Republican presidents.

“As Democrat-run states like California do everything in their power to undermine President Trump’s administration and agenda, North Carolina Republicans went to work to protect the America First Agenda,” Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said in a statement. “North Carolinians voted to send President Trump to the White House in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and this new map reflects that support. President Trump deserves a Congress that will fight for American citizens and move his agenda forward.”

Trump demanded Republican state lawmakers rewrite congressional maps to defend his agenda in Washington – starting with Texas and spreading to other states with GOP supermajorities. Democratic-leaning states responded with California voters passing a referendum that approved redistricting, followed by Illinois. North Carolina’s single-district shift creates a majority Republican congressional district in the state’s so-called “Black Belt.”

The current 1st District is 40% Black, 47% white and skews slightly Republican.

Individual voters and pro-democracy advocacy groups challenged the redraw, arguing lawmakers intended to nullify Black voting power, especially in the northeast, where District 1 has sent Black Democrats to Congress since 1992. The court cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Alexander v. South Carolina NAACP, which raised the standard to show racial bias in voting rights.  

“We’re disappointed in the court’s decision,” said Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina. “This ruling gives blessing to what will be the most gerrymandered congressional map in state history, a map that intentionally retaliates against voters in eastern North Carolina for supporting a candidate not preferred by the majority party.” 

The plaintiffs argued that legislators’ remarks about wanting to defeat a “sue-until-blue scheme” revealed retaliation for the earlier lawsuit challenging the 2023 districts, which had been brought by the NAACP North Carolina State Conference, Common Cause, and several affected voters. They contended the new redraw undermined their ability to get a final ruling on their challenge to District 1. 

The court’s decision followed a Nov. 20 opinion in which the court rejected challenges to the 2023 congressional and Senate plans as diluting Black voters’ strength in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th and 15th Amendments. The panel found “it is undisputed that [B]lack-preferred candidates are less successful under the 2023 [congressional] plan than under the 2022 [congressional] plan,” but partisan gerrymandering – not race – explained the General Assembly’s intent.  

“These mid-decade redistricting battles are tearing our democracy apart; we need the courts more than ever to enforce the protections of the Constitution to protect voters and the right to dissent,” said Hilary Harris Klein, lead counsel for plaintiffs and senior counsel for Voting Rights with Southern Coalition for Social Justice. “If politicians want to keep their majority in any legislative body, our Constitution should require them to do it by earning votes, not by silencing the voices of communities they disagree with after every election.” 

The reshaped 1st District draws in new Republican voters that theoretically would push U.S. Rep. Don Davis, a Black Democrat, out of office. Democratic lawmakers, voting rights advocates and two of Davis’ predecessors criticized the redrawn map.

“I believe the lawmakers responsible for the map and for this misguided ruling know they are wrong and will be judged accordingly,” Phillips said. “Meanwhile, our fight for fair maps continues, and our fight for voters living in these distorted districts will carry on, with more energy than ever. Ultimately, we the people will prevail.” 

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