4:18Demonstrators hold signs during a rally protesting a proposed election redistricting map, Oct. 21, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. Chris Seward/AP
The North Carolina House approved legislation on Wednesday to enact a fresh congressional map, which came two days after approval in the state Senate, potentially granting the Republican Party an additional seat during the 2026 midterm elections.
Republican lawmakers have stated their intention to implement the new map to reinforce President Donald Trump, and this endeavor arises as the White House persists in urging Republicans to revise their state maps ahead of the midterm elections with the goal of assisting Republicans in gaining more seats.
In a remarkable episode shortly before a committee vote on Tuesday, demonstrators inside the hearing room proclaimed, "Berger's maps are racist maps!" — in reference to state Sen. Phil Berger, who presented the redistricting proposal, and yelled "Fascists!" as they were escorted out by authorities.
Democrats contend that the new map could adversely affect Black voters and might lead to U.S. Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat and one of three Black members representing the state in Congress, losing his seat in the approaching midterms.
Demonstrators hold signs during a rally protesting a proposed election redistricting map, Oct. 21, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C.Chris Seward/AP
At a gathering outside the Capitol prior to Tuesday's vote, U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, another member of the state's Democratic delegation, declared, "We know they're falsifying when they say, 'Well, it's not about race.' It is about race. They're going to eliminate, trying to eliminate, the only Black male that we have."
North Carolina state Sen. Warren Daniel, R-Burke (left and standing), presides over the Senate Committee on Elections while it considers legislation to redraw the state’s U.S. House district map at the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh N.C., Monday, Oct. 20, 2025.Gary D. Robertson/AP
Republicans assert that the map was not crafted based on racial considerations and is designed to counter Democratic-aligned congressional map-making in other states, such as California.
Berger, who revealed the mid-decade redistricting initiative last week, posted on X on Tuesday morning prior to the vote, "Across the country, Democrat-controlled states have dedicated decades ensuring that Republicans would be excluded from Congress. North Carolina Republicans will not remain silent and observe Democrats persist in disregarding the desires of the populace in an attempt to impose their liberal agenda on our residents."
North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger looks on as Rep. Destin Hall speaks during a press conference at the North Carolina Republican Party headquarters in Raleigh, N.C., Nov. 6, 2024.Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer/TNS via Getty Images
North Carolina's Democratic governor, Josh Stein, has criticized the redistricting effort but lacks the authority to veto any district maps, according to an examination of state law by the Rutgers University Eagleton Institute of Politics
At present, North Carolina's congressional representation comprises 10 Republicans and four Democrats.
Trump himself has openly voiced his approval for the endeavor. In a message on his social media platform on Friday, he urged legislators to adopt the map: "this revised Map would present the exceptional individuals of North Carolina with the chance to elect an additional MAGA Republican in the 2026 Midterm Elections, which would signify A SUBSTANTIAL TRIUMPH for our America First Agenda, not solely in North Carolina, but throughout our Nation."
FILE – Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., speaks at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, at East Carolina University, Oct. 13, 2024, in Greenville, N.C.David Yeazell/AP
Davis, the Democratic member whose seat is jeopardized by the new map, communicated to ABC News in a declaration on Tuesday that he has never received any appeals from constituents for a fresh map.
"In the 2024 election boasting unprecedented voter participation, NC's First Congressional District elected both President Trump and myself," Davis wrote. "From the commencement of this new term, my office has been the recipient of 46,616 communications from constituents spanning various political affiliations, including those without affiliation, articulating a spectrum of opinions, perspectives, and requests.
"Not a solitary one of them encompassed a plea for a new congressional map reshaping eastern North Carolina. Clearly, this new congressional map is exceedingly inappropriate."
One of the speakers who took part in a rally alongside North Carolina Democrats on Tuesday, Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier, possesses firsthand involvement in contending with mid-decade redistricting — as one of the Texas House Democrats who departed the state in order to deny a quorum when Republican legislators endeavored to push through a new congressional map. Collier also experienced temporary confinement to the Texas House after rebuffing a law enforcement escort for previously disrupting quorum.
She relayed to ABC affiliate WTVD's Michael Perchick that she has been advising legislators to persist in their fight, and to "Never surrender. Continue fighting. That entails bringing it to the streets and into the courts. We must contest this in the judicial system."
ABC News' Brittany Shepherd contributed to this report.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
