North Carolina Replaces Congressional Map With One Favorable to Dems

A lower court in North Carolina replaced a Republican-backed congressional map Wednesday, the latest in a string of legal victories for Democrats attempting to stave off heavy losses in the midterm elections.

A three-panel judge on the Wake County Superior Court approved a congressional map drawn by special masters that will likely lead to Democrats increasing their congressional seat count in the state from five to six.

“The Special Masters believe the modified congressional plan recommended for adoption to the Trial Court achieves the partisan fairness and ‘substantially equal voting power’ required by the Supreme Court of North Carolina,” the court said in its ruling, which may be subjected to further legal challenges.

NORTH CAROLINA ASSEMBLY APPROVES REVISED MAPS AFTER COURT ORDER

Political scientist Bernard Grofman showed the approved map was “the most non-dilutive plan in partisan terms of any map that has been submitted to the Court,” according to the ruling.

The new map creates seven districts favorable to Republicans, six districts favorable to Democrats, and one district that is a toss-up. For comparison, the original map Republican state legislators drew would have likely increased the party’s 8-5 congressional seat majority to an 11-3 majority, according to Dave Wasserman, a national elections analyst for Cook Political Report. The state gained a congressional seat following the most recent census.

Although Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper did not have veto power over the map, the state Supreme Court struck it down earlier this month, ordering the Republican-led legislature to submit new maps to be reviewed by the lower courts. One of the maps they sent created six seats favorable to Republicans, four favorable to Democrats, and four toss-ups, WSOC-TV reported.

While the Wake County court rejected the Republican-backed congressional map, it approved the new state legislative district maps Republican legislatures submitted last week in a move that drew ire from top Democrats in the state, who argued the legislative maps were partisan and unfair.

“Today’s decision allows a blatantly unfair and unconstitutional State Senate map that may have been the worst of the bunch. That is bad for North Carolina because it strips voters of their voice in our democracy. Our elections should not go forward until we have fair, constitutional maps,” Cooper said in response to the court upholding the state legislative maps.

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The ruling in North Carolina follows a series of legal victories that saw Democrats make unexpected nationwide gains despite the GOP being favored to gain dozens of seats in the 2022 midterm elections. Earlier on Wednesday, a new congressional map rubber-stamped by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania marked another apparent victory to Democrats’ redistricting efforts.

Appeals to the new map must be filed by 5 p.m. An appeal could make its way to the state’s Supreme Court, which has a 4-3 Democratic majority.