Disenfranchising voters

On Thursday, Republican-led North Carolina lawmakers unveiled a new congressional district map that, if approved, would likely give the GOP 11 of the state’s 14 districts.

In a state with more Democrats than Republicans and more unaffiliated voters than either party, Republicans currently hold 10 of 14 Congressional seats thanks to a map that surgically carves up voters to give the advantage to the GOP. A fairer map, used in 2022, resulted in an even 7-7 split between the parties.

The new map could flip the 1st Congressional District in Republicans’ favor, ousting U.S. Rep. Don Davis, a moderate Democrat and one of only two Black members of Congress from North Carolina.

A number of ironies attends state Republicans’ announcement that they are caving to pressure from President Donald Trump to redraw districts to give their party an unfair advantage in the 2026 mid-term elections.

First, the action takes place just weeks after a poll of North Carolina voters found that 84 percent, including 87 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of Republicans, oppose gerrymandering for partisan reasons. These voters, surveyed by Opinion Diagnostics, a Republican-leaning polling firm, said redrawing voting maps for partisan advantage is “never acceptable” and districts should be drawn neutrally.

Second, North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall had the audacity to blame California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the redistricting war instigated by President Trump and inaugurated when Texas gerrymandered its Congressional map to add five or six new GOP seats. California responded by creating a new map that would likely add five new Democratic seats if voters approve it in November.

“Our state won’t stand by while Democrats like Gavin Newsom redraw districts to aid in their efforts to obtain a majority in the U.S. House,” Hall said.

Say what? That is undoubtedly one of the most blatantly fanciful examples of self-serving reasoning by any North Carolina politician in recent history.

A third irony came when Senate leader Phil Berger said “President Trump delivered countless victories during his first term in office, and nine months into his second term he continues to achieve unprecedented wins. We are doing everything we can to protect President Trump’s agenda, which means safeguarding Republican control of Congress.”

If Trump is delivering such “wins,” why is there a need to “safeguard” Republican control of Congress. Why the need to rig the system even more? Won’t voters reward him if that’s the case?

North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton stated it well when she said, “Let me be clear: maps should not give you power; voters should.”

In yet another irony, the state is already so heavily gerrymandered that the only district Republicans could target was the 1st, represented by Davis. As a result, the new map was produced in the same week the U.S. Supreme Court heard two cases out of Louisiana that may or may not overturn a section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that outlaws racial gerrymandering.

The nation's Supreme Court, dominated by conservative justices, has ruled that partisan gerrymandering is outside its jurisdiction, meaning it’s up to individual states to determine whether to outlaw the practice. North Carolina’s Supreme Court, also dominated by conservative justices, has declined to do so, meaning the only bulwark against gerrymandering is the Voting Rights Act.

In June, a three-judge panel met in Winston-Salem to hear lawsuits alleging that GOP legislative leaders violated the federal law and the U.S. Constitution when they enacted the current electoral maps just two years ago in October 2023. No ruling has yet been handed down in that case, but GOP lawmakers appear to be doubling down, unconcerned about the outcome.

The 1st district is located in northeastern North Carolina. It would be redrawn to include several Republican-leaning counties along the coast, including Hyde, Dare and Pamlico. Other counties including Greene , where Davis lives, would be moved into the 3rd Congressional District, currently represented by Republican Rep. Greg Murphy, meaning Davis would be in a different district and facing an incumbent should he run for re-election.

Black voters make up almost a quarter of North Carolina voters. If maps were drawn fairly, they should have an opportunity to elect at least three members of Congress. But GOP lawmakers seem determined to dilute their votes, claiming partisan, not racial, gerrymandering.

The saddest irony of all is that states led by Democrats, like California, that have instituted independent commissions or made other efforts to prevent partisan gerrymandering are being forced to undermine those efforts in an attempt to counter the shameful and unscrupulous tactics championed by President Trump and instituted by his sycophantic followers in GOP-led states.

Republicans may cling to power, but they are reversing decades-long progress toward a fairer and more equitable nation and destroying the faith in representative government that has made the United States great and powerful.

It is that faith, the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment, and faith in the rule of law that give Americans the courage to take risks. It has, for decades, sustained American’s entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to work within the system to right injustices. Once lost, it will be hard to regain.

Joy Franklin is a journalist and writer who served as editorial page editor of the Asheville Citizen-Times for 10 years. Prior to that she served as executive editor of the Times-News in Hendersonville.

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