North Carolina can use GOP-drawn congressional map designed to add another Republican House seat, court rules

The federal court allowed the state to use a new Republican-drawn congressional map that would help the GOP pick up another House seat in next year's midterms.

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.

The Supreme Court in 2019 allowed political gerrymandering, finding that “partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts."