Congressional map that could net NC GOP at least 3 seats clears first big hurdle

A new map for North Carolina’s congressional districts that could see the GOP pick up at least three seats next year took a step closer to approval Tuesday afternoon.

The state’s 14 districts for the U.S. House are currently evenly split between the two major parties. Under the new map Republicans unveiled last week, the GOP could instead go into next year’s election with at least a 10-4 advantage, with one of the four Democratic-leaning seats being highly competitive.

Votes began on Tuesday in the Senate, which voted 28-18 just before 1 p.m. to approve the congressional map and send it to the House.

The Senate continued Tuesday afternoon to debate the map for its own districts, giving it preliminary approval by a vote of 28-18, the first of two required Senate votes. The House convened later in the afternoon and approved the map for its own districts 62-44, sending the map to the Senate.

Final votes (the House voting on the congressional and Senate maps, and the Senate voting on the House map) could come as soon as Wednesday. Governors don’t have a role in redistricting, so the maps can’t be vetoed like other bills; once they’re approved by both chambers, they become law.

10-4 congressional map moves forward

In the Senate, debate on the congressional map concluded fairly quickly.

Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, the Democratic whip, criticized Republicans for drawing maps behind closed doors, and including a provision in the recently enacted state budget that exempts redistricting-related communications from public records law.

“The end goal of drawing these maps in secret, and shielding such maps from the public, is that it makes it harder for the public and the courts to determine whether or not these maps are intentionally discriminatory,” Chaudhuri said.

An amendment proposed by Chaudhuri to continue using the map that was in place for last year’s cycle, which ended up electing seven Republicans and seven Democrats, was quickly tabled.

Democrats also offered amendments to the Senate map, including one that would stop Sen. Natasha Marcus of Davidson from being “double-bunked” and placed in another much more conservative district, currently represented by GOP Sen. Vickie Sawyer. That amendment and others were also set aside.

A map Republicans drew in 2021 also double-bunked Marcus with Sawyer, prompting Democrats to claim this week that Marcus was being targeted.

Addressing Republicans on the floor, Marcus said they were denying her constituents the ability to decide who should represent them in Raleigh.

“You have the power to single me out this way, and you can force me out. You’re about to do it when you pass this map,” Marcus said. “But that doesn’t mean you should. You know, I stand up often, and I speak in opposition to your bills and your policies.”

“I do it in a professional manner, I don’t make personal attacks, I’m respectful, but I come here to do what my constituents elected me to do,” she added. “I fight hard for the things they sent me here to fight for.”

Speaking to reporters after session, Senate leader Phil Berger said the claim that Marcus was being singled out isn’t true, and said it isn’t unusual for some lawmakers to get double-bunked when maps are redrawn, pointing out that he was placed in the same district as another Republican after his first term.

“Sometimes folks feel entitled to have a certain outcome as far as maps are concerned, and decisions getting made that are not personal, they’re made for other reasons,” Berger said.

Berger also said Republicans were confident the maps they had drawn would survive potential legal challenges.

“We wouldn’t pass these maps if we didn’t think they would stand up in court, so it’s our belief that they’re fully constitutional,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me, if along the way, before we get a final decision from courts, that they might find a court that has some problem with some part of the maps, but it’s our belief that when all is said and done, these maps will stand.”

The congressional and legislative maps moved to the House and Senate floors on Tuesday after clearing key committees on Monday with minimal revision. Republicans approved a few minor, uncontroversial amendments submitted by Democrats.

Republicans unexpectedly released two different proposals for U.S. House seats last week before abandoning one of them on Monday, which would have likely given the GOP an 11-3 advantage, in favor of the map that contains 10 GOP seats, three Democratic seats and a swing district.

Democratic leader says process needs changes

Several Democrats spoke out against the map Republicans drew for House districts, criticizing what they said was a unfair rearrangement of districts that would reduce the voting power of Democratic voters.

Rep. Deb Butler of Wilmington said that several districts had been redrawn to be less competitive than they were last year.

“This map has nothing to do about where people live,” Butler said. “It has nothing to do with the values and will of North Carolina citizens. It has everything to do with politicians placing the lines to manipulate and preordain the outcome of elections.”

House Minority Leader Robert Reives, meanwhile, said that fundamental changes would need to be made to the way that maps are redrawn, to disrupt the cycle of lawmakers of the majority party inevitably drawing district lines that make it easier for them to stay in power.

“They won’t remember a dime you raised, they won’t remember how many times you were in leadership, they will remember how good you were, and how you did something that moved this state forward,” Reives said to his GOP colleagues.

“And the only way we’re going to move this state forward is we fix this system,” he continued. “And I know it’s not going to happen today unfortunately, but I hope to goodness that those of you who return, remember something about this discussion, and make the decision that just because I can do something, doesn’t mean I have to do something.”