Federal judges uphold several North Carolina US House districts drawn by
Republicans
[November 21, 2025]
By GARY D. ROBERTSON
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Federal judges on Thursday upheld several U.S.
House districts that North Carolina Republicans drew in 2023 that helped
the GOP gain additional seats the following year. They rejected
accusations the lines unlawfully fractured and packed Black voters to
weaken their voting power.
The order by three judges — all of whom were nominated to the bench by
GOP presidents — didn't rule on changes made last month to the 1st
Congressional District that are designed to unseat Democratic Rep. Don
Davis in 2026.
That alteration, completed at the urging of President Donald Trump as
part of an ongoing national mid-decade redistricting fray, is still
being considered by the panel. The judges heard arguments on Wednesday
in Winston-Salem but didn't immediately rule on whether they would block
now the use of the 1st District and the adjoining 3rd District for next
year's election while more legal arguments are made. Candidate filing
for the 2026 elections is set to begin Dec. 1.
Many allegations made by the state NAACP, Common Cause and voters cover
both 2023 and 2025 changes, in particular claims of voter dilution and
racial discrimination violating the U.S. Constitution and Voting Rights
Act.
The 2023 map helped turn a 7-7 North Carolina delegation into one in
which Republicans won 10 of the 14 seats in 2024. Three Democrats chose
not to seek reelection, saying it was essentially impossible to get
reelected under the recast lines.
Thursday’s ruling by 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Allison
Rushing and District Judges Thomas Schroeder and Richard Myers rejected
claims that GOP legislators drew lines in 2023 so skewed for Republicans
that many Black voters could not elect their preferred candidates.
“We conclude that the General Assembly did not violate the Constitution
or the VRA in its 2023 redistricting,” they wrote in a 181-page order.
The judges convened a trial several months ago hearing testimony for a
pair of lawsuits that challenged portions of maps redrawn in 2023.
Thursday’s decision focused on five congressional districts: three in
the Greensboro region and two in and around Charlotte, as well as three
state Senate districts. The judges also upheld the Senate districts.
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Demonstrators approach the Legislative Building during a rally
protesting a proposed election redistricting map, Oct. 21, 2025, in
Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
The plaintiffs argued Republicans split and weakened the Greensboro
region’s concentrated Black voting population within multiple U.S.
House districts. Then-Rep. Kathy Manning, a Greensboro Democrat,
decided not to run again last year because her district shifted to
the right. They also cited what they called packing Black voting-age
residents into a Charlotte-area congressional district that in turn
helped Republican Tim Moore win an adjoining district.
Attorneys for Republican leaders argued that lawfully partisan — and
not racial — considerations helped inform decision-making on the
2023 map. They pointed out that no information on the racial makeup
of regions were used in drawing the lines. A 2019 U.S. Supreme Court
decision essentially neutered federal legal claims of illegal
partisan gerrymandering going forward.
The judges' order favoring the GOP lawmakers said “the circumstances
surrounding the plans’ enactment and the resulting district
configurations and composition are consistent with the General
Assembly’s non-racial motivations, which included traditional
districting criteria, North Carolina law, and partisan performance.”
The ruling can be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Spokespeople
for Republican legislative leaders didn't immediately respond late
Thursday to emailed requests for comment. A lawyers group
representing the state NAACP and others said it was disappointed
with the ruling.
Still at issue are the changes made to the 1st and 3rd Districts
that GOP legislators said are designed to create an 11-3 seat
majority in 2026. Davis continues a line of Black representatives
elected from the 1st District going back more than 30 years. But he
won his second term by less than 2 percentage points.
North Carolina is among several states where Trump has pushed for
mid-decade map changes ahead of the 2026 elections. This week, a
federal court blocked Texas from using a GOP-engineered map.
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