Democrats and voting rights advocates are sounding the alarm over the North Carolina Republican’s redistricting efforts, accusing the proposed new map of specifically discriminating against black voters.
Tar Heel State Republicans announced they were moving forward with new congressional lines earlier this year, and the new map was approved in mid-October. The map targets Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.), a two-term congressman who represents the 1st Congressional District, a heavily Black district President Trump won in 2020.
Opponents of the plan, including the NAACP, argue that the redistricting move is not only diluting the black vote by shifting half of those voters to a neighboring district, but is also having a detrimental effect on democracy as a whole.
Davis told The Hill, “When congressional districts are redrawn frequently, it erodes public trust and distracts from the real issues that families care about, like cost of living, child rearing, retaliatory tariffs, and health care. As a result, too many people are left out in the process.”
Overall, according to the North Carolina Black Alliance, the new map would reduce the Black voting population in the district by more than 8 percent.
North Carolina is still viewed as a swing state, having elected a Democratic governor with a majority-Republican congressional delegation. The state went in Trump’s favor in the 2020 election, whereas last year Trump defeated Vice President Harris by 3 points.
This will be at least the fourth time the Tar Heel State’s congressional lines have been redrawn since the 2020 census. The move comes amid an increasingly escalating redistricting battle across the country, which was triggered by Republicans’ decision to approve a new map in Texas this year in order to derail their chances of keeping the House in next year’s competitive midterm elections. Democrats have responded in kind; On Tuesday, California voted to approve its own new map, which could give the party five additional seats.
But as both parties move forward with redistricting, advocates are warning of its devastating impact on democracy.
Amy Steele, founder of the New North Carolina Project, said the process of continually educating voters in their districts each year is a “nightmare.”
“These lines change with the wind, and the average voter doesn’t understand why,” Steele told The Hill. “So we not only have to constantly fight misinformation, but we have to educate them about simple terms like gerrymandering, which is really not that simple, but gerrymandering, line drawing, maps, courts, and why courts are involved in voting and politics.”
North Carolina’s gerrymandered maps have already been the subject of an ongoing legal battle. In 2023, a group of voters challenged the maps at that time, arguing that they diluted minority votes. No decision has been issued yet in that case.
Now, the NAACP, Common Cause and a group of voters are seeking to block the latest map. The three-judge panel will hold a hearing on Nov. 19 to consider temporarily blocking the maps from moving forward.
Meanwhile, Davis is taking action in Congress. He recently re-introduced a bill along with three other lawmakers to bring more transparency to the redistricting process.
The bill’s co-sponsor, Representative Alma Adams (D-N.C.), argued that Republicans were engaged in racial discrimination.
“Our state is being gerrymandered at the request of President Trump, not because it best serves the citizens of North Carolina. North Carolina was already one of the most gerrymandered states in the country,” Adams said in a statement to The Hill.
“It’s no coincidence that the First District is being targeted, turning it from an R+3 to an R+11 seat, giving Republicans an advantage. Not only did they oust a Black Democrat from her seat, double-bunking her in the Third District, they are trying to eliminate the district with the longest record of Black congressional leadership in North Carolina history.”
Democratic strategists argued that GOP-led redistricting efforts are examples of pure power politics at the behest of Trump, who has led his party to rewrite congressional lines across the country.
“I think it reflects broadly across the country that Republicans are focused on absolute power, and they’re not focused on the people who are stressed every day trying to figure out how to pay their bills and pay their mortgage,” said Democratic strategist Doug Wilson.
His comments come amid growing concerns that the Supreme Court will strike back parts of the Voting Rights Act next summer, essentially gutting the framework that requires states to draw additional majority-minority districts. This could have a particularly sweeping impact in the Deep South, eliminating the overwhelmingly black districts currently represented by Davis.
But Republicans have resisted the criticism, noting that Democrats have also long engaged in redistricting.
Republican strategist Paul Shumaker said, “The redistricting process is not new to North Carolina, and it is as much a part of our political history as a new legislative session.”
He said, “The Democratic Party in North Carolina has written the playbook on redistricting. The only significant change is that they are no longer drawing the lines themselves.”
The Black Voter Project suggested that the GOP effort in North Carolina could potentially backfire, while also noting the consequences for Black voters nationwide.
“With many Black voters already questioning the backbone of the Democratic Party and begging Democrats to fight back, a response to redistricting efforts like North Carolina’s could go a long way in boosting Black voter enthusiasm and turnout,” Christian Towler, director of the Black Voter Project, said in a statement to The Hill.
“Furthermore, as redistricting battles rage across the country, Black voters remain a target because many of the districts targeted by GOP efforts are districts that were first created to address historical discrimination, ultimately ruled unconstitutional under the Voting Rights Act,” he said.
Democrats are showing no signs of backing down. Leaders in blue states like Illinois, Maryland and New York have signaled openness to redrawing their congressional lines in recent months.
Representative Valerie Fauci (D-N.C.), who also served in the North Carolina General Assembly,tried to makeAn independent redistricting commission for the Tar Heel State said in 2019 that it would continue to “support efforts” to see the unit built.
“But Republicans have set the rules of engagement, and until they join us in passing legislation to establish these commissions, it is important that Democrats continue to fight back,” he told The Hill.
