This Giving Tuesday, help ensure voters have the information they need to make confident, informed decisions. Donate now!

Redistricting in North Carolina ahead of the 2026 elections

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search

North Carolina redrew its congressional district boundaries in October 2025. Click here to read more about the ongoing redistricting effort in North Carolina and other states.

Redistricting is the process of enacting new district boundaries for elected offices, particularly for offices in the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures. This article covers redistricting activity in North Carolina after the 2024 elections and before the 2026 elections.
Election Policy VNT Logo.png
Redistricting
State legislative and congressional redistricting after the 2020 census
General information
State-by-state redistricting procedures • Majority-minority districts • Gerrymandering
The 2020 cycle
United States census, 2020 • Congressional apportionment • Redistricting committees • Deadlines • 2022 House elections with multiple incumbents • New U.S.House districts created after apportionment • Congressional maps • State legislative maps • Lawsuits • Status of redistricting after the 2020 census
Redrawn maps
Redistricting before 2024 elections • Redistricting before 2026 elections
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker


North Carolina's 14 United States representatives and 170 state legislators are all elected from political divisions called districts. District lines are redrawn every 10 years following completion of the United States census. Federal law stipulates that districts must have nearly equal populations and must not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity.

Congressional districts
Mid-decade redistricting in North Carolina ahead of the 2026 elections has concluded.

North Carolina redrew its congressional map ahead of the 2026 elections. The state Senate approved a new congressional map on October 21, 2025, and the state House followed on October 22, 2025.[1][2] Redistricting bills do not require gubernatorial approval in North Carolina and are not subject to a veto. The North Carolina General Assembly previously adopted new congressional district boundaries on October 25, 2023.[3] The legislation adopting the new maps passed the state Senate by a vote of 28-18 and the State House by a vote of 64-40.[4] Both votes were strictly along party lines with all votes in favor by Republicans and all votes against by Democrats.[5][6]

Click here for more information about the congressional maps enacted in North Carolina after the 2020 census.

For a complete overview of redistricting in North Carolina after the 2020 census, click here.

Summary

See also: Redistricting in North Carolina after the 2020 census

This section lists major events in the post-2020 census redistricting cycle in reverse chronological order. Major events include the release of apportionment data, the release of census population data, the introduction of formal map proposals, the enactment of new maps, and noteworthy court challenges. Click the dates below for additional information.

Redistricting proposal ahead of the 2026 elections

North Carolina redrew its congressional map ahead of the 2026 elections. The state Senate approved a new congressional map on October 21, 2025, and the state House followed on October 22, 2025.[1][2] The New York Times' Eduardo Medina wrote, "Republicans already have control of 10 of the state’s 14 congressional seats. The new map could give them an extra seat in the First Congressional District, which previously included all eight of the state’s majority Black counties and has now been redrawn to include more conservative-leaning counties. The district is currently held by Representative Don Davis, a Democrat."[7]

National overview

As of November 2025, six states had congressional district maps that were subject to change before the 2026 elections, and six states—California, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Utah—had new congressional maps. A three-judge panel's ruling that blocked Texas' 2025 map for use in the 2026 elections is on appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court.[8] Four states were reportedly exploring voluntary redistricting, and two states had congressional maps that were subject to change due to litigation.

The map below shows redistricting activity between the 2024 and 2026 elections.

The table below shows redistricting activity between the 2024 and 2026 elections as well as the pre-redistricting U.S. House delegation in each state.

Status of congressional redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections
State Reason for redistricting Status Method of redistricting U.S. House delegation before redistricting Potential result of new maps
New map enacted
California Voluntary redistricting Voters approved the use of a new map on Nov. 4, 2025. Commission 43 D - 9 R +5 D
Missouri Voluntary redistricting Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) signed new map into law on Sept. 28, 2025. Legislature-dominant 6 R - 2 D +1 R
North Carolina Voluntary redistricting Legislature passed new map into law on Oct. 22, 2025 Legislature-dominant 10 R - 4 D +1 R
Ohio Required by law to redistrict Redistricting commission approved a new map on Oct. 31, 2025 Legislature-dominant 10 R -5 D +2 R
Texas Voluntary redistricting U.S. Supreme Court temporarily paused a court ruling that would have blocked the new Texas map from use in 2026 Legislature-dominant 25 R -12 D with 1 vacancy +5 R
Utah Changed due to litigation Court approved new plaintiff-submitted map Legislature-dominant 4 R - 0 D +1 D
Net +3 R
New map possible
Florida Voluntary redistricting Florida House to form Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting Legislature-dominant 20 R - 8 D -
Georgia Subject to change due to litigation Litigation ongoing Legislature-dominant 9 R - 5 D -
Indiana Voluntary redistricting Legislature to meet in December Legislature-dominant 7 R - 2 D -
Louisiana Subject to change due to litigation Litigation ongoing Legislature-dominant 4 R - 2 D -
Maryland Voluntary redistricting Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced a redistricting advisory commission. Legislature-dominant 7 D - 1 R -
Virginia Voluntary redistricting The Virginia General Assembly completed its first of two required rounds of approval for a constitutional amendment. Hybrid 6 D - 5 R -


Enacted maps

Enacted congressional district maps

See also: Congressional district maps implemented after the 2020 census

On October 25, 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly adopted new congressional district boundaries.[3] The legislation adopting the new maps passed the state Senate by a vote of 28-18 and the State House by a vote of 64-40.[9] Both votes were strictly along party lines with all votes in favor by Republicans and all votes against by Democrats.[10][11]

The New York Times' Maggie Astor wrote, "The map creates 10 solidly Republican districts, three solidly Democratic districts and one competitive district. Currently, under the lines drawn by a court for the 2022 election, each party holds seven seats. The Democratic incumbents who have been essentially drawn off the map are Representatives Jeff Jackson in the Charlotte area, Kathy Manning in the Greensboro area and Wiley Nickel in the Raleigh area. A seat held by a fourth Democrat, Representative Don Davis, is expected to be competitive."[3]

Enacted state legislative district maps

See also: State legislative district maps implemented after the 2020 census

On October 25, 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly adopted new legislative district boundaries.[12] The legislation adopting the new Senate districts passed the state Senate by a vote of 28-17 and the State House by a vote of 63-40.[13] The legislation adopting the new House districts passed the state Senate by a vote of 27-17 and the State House by a vote of 62-44.[14] All four votes were strictly along party lines with all votes in favor by Republicans and all votes against by Democrats.[15][16][17][18] WUNC's Rusty Jacobs wrote that Catawba College Prof. Michael "Bitzer said Republicans have drawn maps that have a strong chance of preserving their veto-proof super majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. Bitzer noted that constitutional provisions, like requiring legislators to keep counties whole when drawing state legislative districts, make it more difficult for lawmakers to gerrymander these maps more aggressively."[19]

The state redrew its district boundaries after the state supreme court overturned its 2022 decision that North Carolina's enacted congressional and legislative maps were unconstitutional due to partisan gerrymandering.

As a result of state supreme court elections in 2022, the court flipped from a 4-3 Democratic majority to a 5-2 Republican majority. In its ruling, the court said, "we hold that partisan gerrymandering claims present a political question that is nonjusticiable under the North Carolina Constitution. Accordingly, the decision of this Court in Harper I is overruled. We affirm the three judge panel’s 11 January 2022 Judgment concluding, inter alia, that partisan gerrymandering claims are nonjusticiable, political questions and dismissing all of plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice."Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many

Court challenges

See also: Redistricting lawsuits in the 2020 redistricting cycle

For more information about redistricting lawsuits in North Carolina, click here.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 ABC 11, "NC Senate passes proposed voting maps changes, bill moves to House," October 21, 2025
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 CNN, "North Carolina legislature gives final approval to new congressional map that could give GOP one more seat in US House," October 22, 2025
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The New York Times, "North Carolina Republicans Approve House Map That Flips at Least Three Seats," October 26, 2023
  4. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "Senate Bill 757 / SL 2023-145," accessed October 26, 2023
  5. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "House Roll Call Vote Transcript for Roll Call #613," accessed October 26, 2023
  6. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "Senate Roll Call Vote Transcript for Roll Call #492," accessed October 26, 2023
  7. ↑ New York Times, "North Carolina State Senate Approves New Congressional Map in Effort to Add a Seat," October 21, 2025
  8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named 2025block
  9. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "Senate Bill 757 / SL 2023-145," accessed October 26, 2023
  10. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "House Roll Call Vote Transcript for Roll Call #613," accessed October 26, 2023
  11. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "Senate Roll Call Vote Transcript for Roll Call #492," accessed October 26, 2023
  12. ↑ The Carolina Journal, "New state House, Senate, and congressional maps finalized," October 25, 2023
  13. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "Senate Bill 758 / SL 2023-146," accessed October 26, 2023
  14. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "House Bill 898 / SL 2023-149," accessed October 26, 2023
  15. ↑ North Carolina General Assembly, "House Roll Call Vote Transcript for Roll Call #614," accessed October 26, 2023
  16. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "Senate Roll Call Vote Transcript for Roll Call #499," accessed October 26, 2023
  17. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "Senate Roll Call Vote Transcript for Roll Call #504," accessed October 26, 2023
  18. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "House Roll Call Vote Transcript for Roll Call #604," accessed October 26, 2023
  19. ↑ WUNC, "New district maps show signs of GOP partisan gerrymandering," October 24, 2023
v • e
Redistricting after the 2020 census
State-by-state
Overviews
Flag of North Carolina
v • e
State of North Carolina
Raleigh (capital)
Elections

What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

Government

Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Redistricting_in_North_Carolina_ahead_of_the_2026_elections&oldid=10694637"