Critics say new NC Congressional maps give Republicans an unfair advantage
RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina is one of several states where President Donald Trump asked lawmakers to find a way to make more Republican congressional seats. Tarheel state lawmakers sealed the deal Wednesday when the House voted to pass the new congressional maps.
“They’re really trying to disenfranchise people and we don’t think that’s fair,” U.S. House Representative Alma Adams from NC District 12 said. “We’re fighting back on that.”
Lawmakers voted in favor of the new maps after President Trump pushed them to protect Republican power in Congress before the next midterm election. Some critics say the new maps gerrymander Black voters in NC District 1 and 3.
“Racism is the final thing you go to when you don’t have anything else to go with,” Addul Ali, Chairman of NC 12th Congressional District GOP said. “Race wasn’t an issue in drawing these maps. Partisan leanings are, and when Democrats have control, they do the same thing.”
Critics say the new maps are a part of an old playbook that redraws the state’s only competitive democratic district. The new map shifts and switches several counties between District 1 and District 3 giving Republicans an edge.
“Voters are probably going to feel more confused,” Chris Cooper, Political Science Professor at Western Carolina University said. “Also, let’s remember you’re taking a very competitive district, that first congressional district, and you’re turning it into an uncompetitive district and we know that voters respond to these messages of competitiveness.”
WCCB emailed all NC Republican house representatives in our viewing area for comment. A spokesperson for Rep. Huneycutt from Stanly county said he was out of town and didn’t vote. A spokesperson for Rep. Campbell said he wasn’t available. The rest didn’t before the story aired. Supporters say lawmakers were following the president’s direction, as they should.
“There’s an agenda and there’s a mandate that the American people voted for him to institute,” Ali said. “By all means, I think it’s necessary for state legislators to do exactly what the North Carolina state legislature did.”
The new maps could face legal challenges in the state’s highest court over claims they target Black voters.
“They’re changing the rules as they go,” Rep. Adams said. “I think each of these Democratic states are going to stand up and fight back.”
Governor Josh Stein does not have veto power over the congressional maps. If the maps face no legal challenges, they will go into effect next year before the midterm election.
