CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina's new congressional maps just became law last week, and Democrats said they plan on challenging the redistricting in court, saying there's racial bias in the new maps.
The new maps are designed to give Republican candidates a large advantage in upcoming elections for Congress and the North Carolina legislature. Republicans say the maps are fair and will hold up in court, but Democrats told WRAL they think the maps are unconstitutional. The new maps could give North Carolina Republicans at least three more seats in the U.S. House after 2024, all at the expense of first- and second-term Democrats, according to state election data. That change could be enough to help Republicans keep a House majority in Washington.
Rep. Deborah Ross, a Democrat from the Raleigh area, said Democrats are planning to file a lawsuit, claiming the new maps treat voters differently according to their race.
"We are exploring racial gerrymandering claims right now," Ross said.
In last week's hearings, Republican state lawmakers repeatedly said they did not use racial data, only political data to draw the new districts. North Carolina's Supreme Court has ruled that political gerrymandering is permitted and the U.S. Supreme Court said it doesn't have the authority to stop it.
Several candidates announced new campaigns after the maps were approved, including Mark Walker, who dropped out of the race for governor for a bid to regain his seat in Congress. Rep. Jeff Jackson was drawn out of his current district and announced he will run for attorney general in 2024 to fight the "blatant corruption."
The state House and Senate maps also put Republicans in a decent position to retain complete control of both chambers through the rest of the decade. While Republicans have held majorities in both chambers since 2011, this year marked the first in five years that they held veto-proof majorities — the result of 2022 electoral gains and the party switch of a House Democrat in April.
The narrow supermajorities resulted in all 19 of Cooper's vetoes so far this year being overridden.
“We campaign and run on and speak to our constituents about the things that resonate with us and with our base,” said GOP Senate Minority Whip Jim Perry of rural Lenoir County. "We’re doing exactly what we said we were going to do.”
North Carolina's constitution exempts redistricting legislation from gubernatorial veto, leaving opponents with little recourse but to sue. But the scope of possible litigation was narrowed by a state Supreme Court ruling in April that declared the constitution placed no limits on shifting lines for partisan gain.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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