North Carolina’s Republican legislative leaders are planning a new congressional map that could strengthen their party’s hold on the state’s U.S. House delegation, aligning with a broader, nationwide redistricting push encouraged by President Trump.
The Seraaj Files, by Kevin Seraaj, J.D., M.Div., OrlandoAdvocate.com
The proposed redraw is expected to build upon the State GOP’s current advantage, potentially flipping one additional seat from Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Under the map they pushed into law in 2023, Republicans won 10 of North Carolina’s 14 seats in 2024. This was a significant change over even 7–7 split that resulted under the court-approved 2022 district map. The only remaining competitive district is the 1st, represented by Democrat Don Davis. Republicans will likely try to reshape it to lean more Republican by adjusting its boundaries to include more of the state’s northeastern population.
Republicans seem to be running scared, fearful of losing the mid-term elections by a landslide. The rising tide of anti-administration public opinion has the GOP pulling out all the stops, trying their best to swing the upcoming election in their favor. But there is a growing dissatisfaction with Trump among Republican voters– and the administration is aware. So they could lose the election even if their gerrymandering scheme is successful. Republican voters suffering under Trump policies could conceivably vote Democrat. Or simply stay home.
So it is not surprising that one of Trump’s billionaire supporters has purchased Dominion voting machines for use in the upcoming election. Anyone care to wager how each of those machines– if used– will tally the votes that are cast?
A Broader Mid-Decade Redistricting Push
North Carolina’s move is part of a growing wave of mid-decade redistricting efforts the GOP is launching across the country as both parties look to tilt congressional maps in their favor before the 2026 elections. Republicans began this gerrymandering effort after President Trump publicly urged Republican-led legislatures to redraw maps to increase GOP representation.
Republican lawmakers in Texas started this fight, by meeting and announcing a new congressional map that analysts say could flip up to five Democratic-held seats. Congressional maps are drawn every ten years to make adjustments for population shifts as determined by census counts. This move was clearly unethical and probably illegal. Democrats in California responded by advancing their own redistricting plan targeting Republican districts, but instead of acting arbitrarily, lawmakers there scheduled the matter for referendum, asking the voters to decide yea or nay. On November 4th, its citizens will vote whether or not it should also increase Democratic representation.
Missouri’s Republican-majority legislature also passed a new map that would expand GOP control to seven of the state’s eight congressional districts. That move is also facing lawsuits and a statewide referendum drive by opposition groups. In anticipated pushback, other blue states are also discussing whether they will join the fray and follow suit by increasing Democratic representation.
A Tight Contest for Control of Congress
The redistricting fight is important. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats need only three additional seats to reclaim control in 2026. New Republican maps in the South and counter-efforts in Democratic states could determine which party governs the next Congress.
If courts rule that the GOP gerrymandering effort is legal, it will pave the way for even more Democratic states to follow suit. Oh, what a tangled web we weave . . . .
The Dominion machines– don’t forget them– are likely intended as a failsafe measure, which will likely be absolutely necessary for a GOP win given the present state of nation-wide public opinion. Democratic leadership ought to be looking at some kind of independent technical review of the Dominion software prior to the 2026 elections, and I would think plans for ensuring accurate vote tallies will likely be necessary to prevent widespread Republican election fraud.
- Kevin Seraaj
- Kevin Seraaj
- Kevin Seraaj
- Kevin Seraaj
