RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — A battle is brewing on Jones Street as lawmakers prepare for public input on new maps designed to give Republicans an advantage, sparking criticism over gerrymandering.
Republicans currently control 10 of North Carolina’s 14 congressional seats after the last map redraw. With the latest changes, they aim to increase that number to 11 seats, leaving Democrats with just three.
The NCGOP communications director said GOP leaders in the NC House and Senate are making the changes to help President Donald Trump. They pointed out that the GOP got involved after California Democrats altered their maps to favor their party, following Texas Republicans’ earlier redistricting efforts.
“Both sides are doing it. There’s no reason not to back up President Trump in a state that he won three times in order for him to keep delivering on his agenda,” said communications director Matt Mercer.
The new maps specifically target Democratic Congressman Don Davis by shifting his 1st District seat in northeastern North Carolina. This involves replacing more Democratic-leaning areas with heavily Republican counties along the coast, changing the district from a swing seat to one favoring Republicans.
In addition, the redistricting removed Davis’ home in Greene County from the district, as well as Wilson County, which had been part of the district for years. Wilson State Representative Dante Pittman, a Democrat, argued that this move diminishes fair representation.
“This is all because Texas decided to come in and do mid-decade redistricting on their own, and now we have this national partisan redistricting war going on. I just resent the fact that they have come to my home community, messing with my people, getting us in the middle of it,” Pittman said.
Longtime Congressman G.K. Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat who represented the seat for 18 years from 2004 to 2022, also weighed in. He said the new lines go against anything he has seen in North Carolina.
“This map is unacceptable. This is a political and racial gerrymander unlike anything that we have seen in modern history,” Butterfield stated.
Butterfield explained that the 1st District was originally drawn to give Black North Carolinians a fair chance at a voice in Congress. While partisan gerrymanders have been upheld by courts, he believes the new maps would violate the Voting Rights Act by gerrymandering based on race.
“I expect lawsuits to take place very quickly. And just maybe, a federal judge or even the appellate court will hit the pause button and allow a trial to take place next year on the legality of this brazen attempt to arbitrarily change the congressional map,” Butterfield said.
As more states get involved in mid-decade redistricting battles, some hope this will lead to national reforms that ensure lines are drawn fairly.
“Do the citizens of North Carolina want fair elections? And fair elections in this context means the government can’t rig the outcome, and I think that’s pretty simple,” said retired state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr.
https://abc11.com/post/lawmakers-gear-hearings-proposed-congressional-map-redraw/18041222/