The NCGA Should Work for You, Not Donald Trump

For the 5th time in 6 years, North Carolinians are being dragged into a redistricting battle. And man, we really don’t want to be.  

Redistricting is the process of changing the lines we use to define voting districts. It determines who represents us in government and how competitive our elections are. 

Unfortunately, it’s also a tool used by politicians to suppress communities’ voting power, to divide up areas in absurd ways, ensuring that certain groups don’t have the freedom to elect their preferred representatives. North Carolina is all too familiar with this form of redistricting, and we really, really don’t like it. 

A recent poll conducted by a Republican-leaning firm shows how overwhelming the opposition to partisan redistricting is in North Carolina. 

76% of North Carolina voters say it should be illegal for gerrymandering to be used to discriminate against voters based on their political party. 

84% of North Carolina voters agree that “it’s never acceptable for politicians to draw districts to help their own party win more seats.” 

And nearly all North Carolina voters – 94% – say they want districts that fairly represent all communities and political viewpoints. This is more than a broad consensus– it’s a near-universal belief. 

And despite this, Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly have announced plans to redraw North Carolina’s congressional map in order to secure an additional seat for their party in the 2026 midterms. 

This time, they’re doing it at the direct request of President Trump, who has been leading a national pressure campaign to get state legislators to redraw their maps to MAGA’s benefit for the 2026 midterms. In some states, Trump has been personally calling elected officials, even sending the Vice President to pressure legislators in person.  

NCGA Republicans didn’t need much convincing. House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger announced their partisan redistricting plan this week, saying that they were committed to fulfilling President Donald Trump’s request to redraw maps in Republicans’ favor. 

The North Carolina General Assembly will likely vote on a new map soon after they reconvene next week. Congressional maps are typically drawn once every ten years, but if Republican lawmakers were to approve this new map, it would be North Carolina’s fifth in just six years. 

North Carolina’s current congressional map already heavily favors Republicans despite our state having a balanced, competitive electorate. Republicans currently hold 10 out of 14 congressional seats despite winning just over 50% of the presidential vote in 2024. The new map would likely increase the Republican advantage from 10-4 to 11-3. 

This isn’t the first time that the NCGOP has tried to subvert democracy this year. You may remember when Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin tried to overturn the results of the 2024 election. For six months, Griffin and the NCGOP tried to toss tens of thousands of legal ballots, doing anything they could to steal a seat on the state’s highest court. This is the playbook for NC Republicans– when you’re losing, you attack the voters. 

And while NCGA Republicans have the time to ram through their partisan redistricting plan, they are refusing to pass a comprehensive state budget despite us being over 3 months into the fiscal year. Teachers are working without raises, small businesses are rebuilding from Helene without ample support, and affordable health care programs are going unfunded. 

North Carolinians are struggling with rising costs, and NCGA Republicans are instead prioritizing political repression on behalf of an increasingly authoritarian administration. 

NCGA Republicans think that they can ignore North Carolinians, that they don’t have to answer to the people. They’ve forgotten that they work for you, not Donald Trump. 

But we still have plenty of time to remind them. Join a No Kings Protest this weekend, or attend the Redistricting Watch Rally in Raleigh on the 21st. You can also submit a public comment to the NCGA, or contact your legislators directly. 

At the end of the day, if MAGA were confident in their policy platform, they wouldn’t need to manipulate the maps to maintain power. If North Carolinians wanted higher costs and less health care– Republicans wouldn’t need to change a single district.