In a joint news release, House Speaker Destin Hall wrote: "President Trump earned a clear mandate from the voters of North Carolina and the rest of the country, and we intend to defend it by drawing an additional Republican Congressional seat. Our state won't stand by while Democrats like (California Gov.) Gavin Newsom redraw districts to aid in their effort to obtain a majority in the U.S. House. We will not allow them to undermine the will of the voters and President Trump's agenda."
Senate President Phil Berger wrote: "President Trump delivered countless victories during his first term in office, and nine months into his second term, he continues to achieve unprecedented wins. We are doing everything we can to protect President Trump's agenda, which means safeguarding Republican control of Congress. Picking up where Texas left off, we will hold votes in our October session to redraw North Carolina's congressional map to ensure Gavin Newsom doesn't decide the congressional majority."
Both Berger and Hall were unavailable for interviews Tuesday.
"They made it very clear that they are standing up for President Trump's agenda in response to Democrat actions to try and take over President Trump's agenda by redistricting in California, as well as other states, in order to thwart that presidential agenda," said NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons.
Currently, North Carolina's Congressional delegation is comprised of 10 Republicans and four Democrats, with Democrats concerned that a newly drawn map will target Rep. Don Davis, who won the state's lone competitive district in 2024.
Stay on top of breaking news stories with the ABC11 News App
In 2022, court-ordered maps led to a split of seven Republicans and seven Democrats. However, Republicans drew new maps ahead of the 2024 elections, leading Democratic incumbents Rep. Kathy Manning, Rep. Wiley Nickel, and Rep. Jeff Jackson to all opt against running for re-election. In North Carolina, lawmakers are legally able to draw maps for a partisan advantage.
"You saw it play out in some of the court cases, most recently in their opinions, where the opinions were very favorable for where we're attempting to go with redistricting," said Simmons.
Davis won the 1st Congressional District by just more than 6,000 votes, or less than 2%. Every other Congressional race in North Carolina during the 2024 cycle was decided by at least 13%.
"It's such a disservice to the voters of North Carolina to have redistricting every two years because of their frequently unconstitutional but really immoral actions. Voters should pick their representatives, not the other way around," said Congresswoman Deborah Ross, a Democrat who represents the state's 2nd District.
ALSO SEE | Stein announces billions in medical debt erased for more than 2.5M North Carolinians
Ross referred to the move as "playing political games."
"We need to make sure that they don't draw these crazy lines to make sure that people can elect a representative who truly represents their interests. And right now, we have a legislature here that is so bent on aggregating power for one political party," said Ross.
In a statement, House Minority Leader Robert Reives wrote: "Republican lawmakers made clear today that they plan to come back to Raleigh and disenfranchise the voters of this state. Instead of lowering costs for families or ensuring Medicaid can stay afloat, they are hellbent on consolidating as much power as they can. Call it what it is: They are stealing a congressional district in order to shield themselves from accountability at the ballot box."
Democratic Gov. Josh Stein addressed the announced plans for new voting maps.
"The legislature is supposed to work for the people. They should not be abusing their power and using it to take away the people's power. Voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around. So we have a General Assembly that's failed to pass a budget. I think the only state in the country where that's the case, they failed to pay law enforcement, the topic of today's meeting.
They failed to pay our teachers' salaries of their worth. They have failed to fully fund Medicaid. And now they're failing the voters by taking their power away from themselves to give it to the General Assembly so they can choose who our representatives are. It is ridiculous," said Stein.
The move by Newsom to try to enact new voting maps in California followed efforts by Republican leadership in Texas attempting to do the same in that state, leading Democratic legislators to flee the state to avoid a vote on the issue.
The lack of competitiveness, in part a result of redistricting, has been felt nationally. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, in 2024, there were 244 Congressional races with a margin of victory of at least 25%, while just 37 races were decided by 5% or less.
"Competition is good. That's what we want. That's what's healthy for democracy. But as long as we have legislators drawing their own districts or drawing congressional districts for the purpose of advantaging their political party, we're not going to get in a competitive for districts, by and large," said Bob Phillips, Executive Director of Common Cause North Carolina.
ALSO SEE | Bond exceeds $1M for NC state rep. charged with sex crimes 15-year-old
A lack of competitive races could ultimately blunt turnout.
"When you have a gerrymandered legislature or a gerrymandered Congress, for that matter, they can't be held accountable because they run in districts that are not competitive, and they know all they have to do is just satisfy the very base of their party. And thus it's a very narrow agenda that they follow. And again, that's very unhealthy for our democracy," said Phillips.
Phillips said both Republicans and Democrats have utilized redistricting to their benefit, but believes it is necessary to enact more representative maps.
"We need, obviously, national legislation that addresses the gerrymandering problem at the congressional level, which would impact all the states. And then on a state-by-state basis, you could have reform for the legislative races," said Phillips.