The Republican-controlled North Carolina General Assembly is scheduled to return to Raleigh on Monday, where they are expected to vote on a new Congressional district map they hope will help maintain the GOP’s hold on the U.S. House in the 2026 midterm elections.
And the new proposed map would put the Outer Banks counties in the same district, while at the same time trying to flip a seat currently held by a Democrat.
The map comes three days after House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) announced an agreement to draw up a new map, responding to President Donald Trump’s call to Republicans across the country to eliminate Democratic seats wherever possible to help maintain Republican control of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterms, NC Newsline reported.
That would follow Texas, California and other states either having already approved, or planning to approve, new maps in unprecedented moves ahead of next year’s election.
States have previously only followed the U.S. Constitution’s mandate of redistricting after a census conducted every ten years, except when courts demanded new maps in later years due to legal challenges.
A poll of North Carolina voters conducted in September found that large majorities in both parties oppose gerrymandering in North Carolina, including 87% of Democrats and 78% of Republicans, NC Newsline reported.
According to the map released Thursday, the Third District would be shrunk to essentially surround Greenville, where Rep. Greg Murphy (R) resides.
Dare, Hyde, Beaufort, Craven and Carteret would be moved into the First District, which is currently represented by Congressman Don Davis (D-Greene), whose home county would be moved to the Third District.
According to NC Newsline, the current First District voted Democratic in the 2020 presidential race by a little over 1%.
The new map redraws it to create a district that voted roughly 55% Republican to 44% Democratic in the 2024 presidential election — putting him at a more than 10 percentage point deficit.
This represents Republicans’ second attempt to draw Davis out, after a new map drawn in 2023 changed his district to one that voted 52% to 46% in favor of Republicans in the 2022 U.S. Senate campaign. But Davis still won reelection in 2024 by a margin of about 50% to 48%.
Davis could still run for reelection in the seat, as members of Congress from North Carolina only have to reside in the state to be eligible to run.
No Democrats have indicated they would challenge Davis in a primary in the First District.
Two Republicans, state Sen. Bobby Hanig of Currituck and Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson, who have already said they plan to file for the First District GOP nomination would remain in the district under the new map.
A third Republican, Lenoir County Commissioner Eric Rouse of Kinston, announced earlier he would also run in the First District. But the new map puts his county in the same district as Murphy.
Hall’s office stated in a press release announcing public comment has opened on the map that both the House and Senate expect to consider it next week.
The state Senate calendar for Monday shows the Elections Committee will meet at 10 a.m. to consider the map bill.
But the measure did not appear on the calendar of the full Senate or House as of Thursday evening.
The legislature can approve the map by simple majority and without the threat of veto by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, as General Assembly and Congressional redistricting bills are exempt under North Carolina’s Constitution.
Filing for the 2026 elections, which include all General Assembly, sheriff, and many county commissioner and other seats, takes place from December 1-19, 2025, with a primary scheduled for March 3, 2026.
The map will likely face legal challenges that could delay or block their implementation. Some past lawsuits have forced North Carolina to conduct Congressional primaries separately from the other races.
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