Wednesday, October 22, 2025
UPDATE: 11:00 AM – Good news for North Carolina conservatives! Republican lawmakers in the state have approved new maps for congressional districts, likely adding another seat for the GOP.
The state Senate gave its approval to Senate Bill 249 on Tuesday, which changes districts 1 and 3. The House followed on Wednesday, officially passing the new map.
Here in North Carolina, the governor doesn’t have the power to veto these kinds of maps, which is different from many other states. This is because of a law passed back in 1995. So, Democrat Governor Josh Stein can’t stop the new maps from becoming law.
North Carolina has often had Democrat governors and Republican lawmakers working together. Now, it looks like the state will likely have 11 Republicans and 3 Democrats representing us in Congress.
8:48 AM – Republicans in North Carolina are working to adjust the state’s congressional map to try and gain another seat for the GOP.
The proposed district maps cleared their final hurdle in the North Carolina Senate on Tuesday with a vote of 26 to 20 in favor.
GOP Senate Leader Phil Berger said, “Democrat-run states across the country have been working for years to make sure Republicans are drawn out of Congress. North Carolina Republicans won’t just sit back and watch Democrats try to force their liberal ideas on our citizens. This new map respects what the voters of North Carolina want.”
Last week, Republicans shared Senate Bill 249, which changes districts 1 and 3. The other 12 districts will stay the same.
Looking at voter data from 2024, the proposed map for District 1 would shift from an area that voted for Donald Trump at 51% to one that voted for Trump at 55%.
Republican Ralph Hice spoke about comments made in the Senate before the vote. Some people suggested that race might have played a role in drawing the congressional map.
Hice said firmly, “I want to say again that we didn’t use any racial data when we made these maps. That’s a fact. The computer just used the data it had. The goal of this map was to gain a Republican seat. We’ve said that many times. Some people are trying to say it was done for other reasons, but that’s not true.”
He added that the idea that the map was redrawn for racial reasons “just doesn’t make sense.”
Hice continued, “We created these maps to help rebalance the nation, rebalance Congress, and make sure North Carolina is as well-represented as other blue states are when they create their districts.”
He also noted, “Republicans have a very small lead in the House of Representatives. If Democrats gain just a few seats in the next election, they will take control of the House and stop President Trump’s agenda.”
In 2022, North Carolina’s Congressional delegation had seven Republicans and seven Democrats. When Republicans redrew the maps for the 2024 election, three Democrats chose not to run for re-election. Republican leaders in the state believe that with the new map, 11 Republicans could represent North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Texas started the redistricting process in August when Republican lawmakers approved new maps that are likely to give the GOP several additional U.S. Senate seats.
This led California Governor Gavin Newsom to start a special election campaign to redraw California’s maps to gain Democrat seats to match Texas. Californians will vote on this plan on November 4th. If it passes, it will bypass the state’s usual independent committee that redraws Congressional maps and instead enact Newsom’s plan.
Republican North Carolina Representative Brenden Jones said, “I’ve got bad news for Gavin Newsom and the radical left. North Carolina won’t stand by while they try to undermine the will of the voters and stack the deck in D.C.”
