Why NC lawmakers were able to redraw the state’s map for US House mid-decade
North Carolina lawmakers entered the national political arms race over redistricting this week, enacting a new congressional map that changes the boundaries of two districts in the northeastern part of the state in a way that is expected to yield one more Republican-favored seat in Congress.
They were able to do so because while the state constitution specifies that redistricting for maps used in state legislative elections can only be drawn once after the most recent 10-year census is conducted, there is no prohibition on drawing new maps for the state’s congressional districts later in the decade.
Leaders of the Republican-controlled legislature, Sen. Phil Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall, announced Oct. 13 that they would unveil a redrawn map and take it up when lawmakers returned for a few days of voting sessions this week.
Between Monday and Wednesday, amid daily protests in and around the Legislative Building over the GOP’s effort to secure their party one additional seat in the U.S. House in next year’s midterms at the behest of President Donald Trump, the Senate and House quickly moved the map through redistricting committees and onto the floor for votes.
The map, which targets Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis in the 1st Congressional District, received final approval by the House on Wednesday afternoon. Since it doesn’t require the governor’s approval, it goes into effect immediately for next year’s election. Court challenges, however, are likely.
District lines that were in place for the 2024 election, which were drawn the previous year, resulted in Republicans winning 10 of the state’s congressional seats, and Democrats winning four. Under the new map, that is expected to become an 11-3 advantage for the GOP.
The U.S. Constitution requires states to redraw their congressional maps after every decennial census, to account for changes in population that can affect how many seats each state is apportioned in the U.S. House.
North Carolina’s growth between 2010 and 2020 yielded one additional congressional seat when apportionment results were released in April 2021.
The state has 14 congressional districts for the remainder of this decade.
What are the rules for redrawing maps?
Every state has different rules and laws governing the redistricting process, including whether lawmakers can redraw new maps that were adopted after the most recent census.
North Carolina is one 11 states in the country that explicitly forbids what is referred to as mid-decade redistricting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, but only for the redrawing of state-level maps for legislative districts in the N.C. General Assembly.
Article II of the N.C. Constitution, which deals with the legislative branch of state government, states that districts for the N.C. House and Senate will be redrawn by the legislature “at the first regular session convening after the return of every decennial census of population taken by order of Congress.”
Once new legislative districts have been drawn after a new census, the N.C. Constitution states, they “shall remain unaltered until the return of another decennial census of population taken by order of Congress.”
Mid-decade redraws of state-level legislative maps have still happened, however, due to legal challenges and claims of political and racial gerrymandering, which in the past have resulted in court orders directing or allowing new maps to be devised.
There is no constitutional prohibition on lawmakers engaging in mid-decade redistricting for the state’s congressional map, in North Carolina, or, according to the Congressional Research Service, under the U.S. Constitution or federal law.
The fact that mid-decade redrawing for congressional districts isn’t prohibited at the federal level is what has allowed states without their own restrictions to promptly jump into the fast-developing national battle over redistricting.
Texas was the first to act, in August, when Republican lawmakers there drew and approved a new congressional map that is expected to net the GOP five additional seats in the U.S. House. Democrats in California retaliated with their own redrawn map that would give Democrats five new seats as well, effectively canceling out the Republican advantage.
The map in California is on the ballot in that state in the form of a measure that will need approval by voters next month before it can take effect.
Officials in several other states including Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New York, and New York have raised the possibility of drawing new maps, according to ABC News.
This story was originally published October 23, 2025 at 1:19 PM.
