Federal Judicial Panel Rules That NC’s New Congressional Map Can Go Into Effect
“…we find that Williams Plaintiffs have not made a clear showing that the General Assembly likely enacted S.B. 249 with the intent to ‘minimize or cancel out the voting potential’ of black North Carolinians.”
Not surprisingly, after the GOP-controlled North Carolina General Assembly passed a new congressional map in October that could potentially net Republicans an additional seat in the House of Representatives in 2026, lawsuits began in part on the grounds that the map was a deliberate attempt to dilute the black vote.
NC’s current Congressional composition is 10-4 GOP. The target on the map was the First Congressional District, currently held by Democrat Don Davis. Republicans viewed that one as a prime pickup opportunity, seeing that it has become increasingly competitive. For reference, Davis narrowly held on to the seat in 2024 against Trump-backed GOP nominee Laurie Buckhout, who lost by 6,000 votes in a race that saw the Libertarian candidate, Tom Bailey, get 10,000 votes.
The new North Carolina congressional map has PASSED the NC House and Senate.
The bill does not require the Governor's signature and is now law
Change To Dem Rep Don Davis in #NC01
🔴 Trump +3 -> 🔴 Trump +11 pic.twitter.com/wM921mJrB7— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) October 22, 2025
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel from the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled against the plaintiffs in the two lawsuits brought against GOP legislative leaders, denying requests for a preliminary injunction and allowing the map to go into effect ahead of the start of candidate filing, which is Monday:
A federal court in North Carolina is allowing the state to use a new Republican-drawn congressional map that would help the GOP pick up another seat in the House during next year’s midterm elections.
A three-judge panel of U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina unanimously denied preliminary injunction requests in a pair of lawsuits that said in part that the new map was aimed at diluting the voting strength of Black voters, in violation of the 14th Amendment.
The judges found that the challengers “presented no direct evidence” that the Legislature enacted the map for racially discriminatory purposes.
“Instead, the direct evidence shows that the 2025 redistricting was motivated by partisan purposes,” the panel wrote Wednesday in a 57-page opinion.
🚨Good News: 3-judge panel in the North Carolina redistricting cases has rejected the requests to block the new congressional map pic.twitter.com/Bel86I7ZgI
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) November 26, 2025
In further explaining their ruling, the judges observed that “[N]one of the counties moved between CD 1 and 3 is majority black, and none belong to what Plaintiffs characterize as the Black Belt. Moving whole counties, as opposed to smaller blocks of voters, within this region does not raise an inference of racial targeting.”
They went on to write that, “In sum, we find that Williams Plaintiffs have not made a clear showing that the General Assembly likely enacted S.B. 249 with the intent to ‘minimize or cancel out the voting potential’ of black North Carolinians.”
#BREAKING: The three-judge panel has denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction on the new North Carolina congressional map. (H/T @JustR_02) https://t.co/8GwpBJ0vS2 pic.twitter.com/kf7ijIYVPD
— The Redistrict Network (@RedistrictNet) November 26, 2025
In an emailed statement, State Sen. Leader Phil Berger (R), one of the defendants in the case, applauded the ruling:
“As Democrat-run states like California do everything in their power to undermine President Trump’s administration and agenda, North Carolina Republicans went to work to protect the America First Agenda. North Carolinians voted to send President Trump to the White House in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and this new map reflects that support. President Trump deserves a Congress that will fight for American citizens and move his agenda forward. Today’s decision thwarts the radical left’s latest attempt to circumvent the will of the people.”
An appeal of the ruling, a decision which came from two Trump-nominated judges and one Bush II-nominated judge, would take this case directly to the Supreme Court.
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
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Comments
“Instead, the direct evidence shows that the 2025 redistricting was motivated by partisan purposes,…”
Darn tootin’! GO TEAM GO.
What I find most interesting in all this is the NC legislature could enact this into law without the governor’s signature.
The Constitution grants Stare Legislatures sole authority to redistrict.
Governors never used to sign anywhere. In some States, they now do, but can’t veto.
For nearly two centuries, courts had no say either.
Then came the entirely unconstitutional VRA requirements and suddenly the Courts had total control of the process.
In PA, the current map was drawn by a “non-partisan” person hired by the State courts, who cane up with a gerrymander far more partisan in favor of the D’s than the D’s own map. This after scrapping the map passed by the R controlled legislature.
This is not true at all. The governor is part of the legislature, and in general all legislation, including redistricting bills, must be presented to the governor for signature or veto.
North Carolina is special, in that its constitution specifically excludes certain kinds of bills from the governor’s signature. Those include constitutional amendments, joint resolutions, bills that affect fewer than 15 counties, public appointments, and redistricting bills. I’m not aware of any other state with a similar provision in its constitution.
That is not true either. Not only is the VRA not unconstitutional, but districting has always been subject to federal law and the US constitution, and the federal courts have always had the authority to enforce that. The VRA is just one instance of a federal law affecting elections, which the constitution specifically authorizes Congress to make.
I think that this last election was the first time Bailey managed to crack 2% after numerous attempts. He was a spoiler and always has been
It’s funny that after Dems were in charge of the House in NC for over 100yrs and loved them some gerrymandering suddenly they wanted nothing to do with it when Republicans took over.
This should be called what it is, Democrat districts as the Dems could care less about the “black” vote and consider them too stupid to vote the way the Dems think they should vote.
The Left is not interested in equality. Their sole interests are in political advantage and personal financial gain.
The N.C. legislature removed a Jim Crow law on requiring local sheriff’s approval requirement to purchase a handgun…. that over the veto by the Dem gov. Re-empowering blacks is a Republican thing …so redistricting likely NOT racist.
It’s very good that the appeal will not be before the woke 4th Circuit.
The 4th circuit had its say on this panel, which included at least one appeals court judge. Appeals from a redistricting panel go straight to SCOTUS.