STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
North Carolina lawmakers passed a new congressional map that is intended to give Republicans even more of an advantage. This is a swing state - a purple state - which President Trump barely won in 2024, with just over 50% of the vote. He actually got under 50% the time before that. North Carolina has repeatedly elected Democratic governors, but Republicans dominate the state legislature, and they draw the district maps. They've drawn the lines so that Republicans have most of the 14 congressional districts, and they want one more than they already have. The North Carolina Newsroom's Adam Wagner reports from Raleigh.
ADAM WAGNER, BYLINE: Republicans currently control 10 congressional districts in this swing state, and GOP lawmakers have been overt that they wanted to secure an additional seat to help President Trump's agenda. State House Majority Leader Brenden Jones says that's necessary because states controlled by Democrats have long used gerrymandering to gain an advantage.
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BRENDEN JONES: What we're defending here today is not just a map. It's the principle that stops the deck from being stacked against us. It's the principle that our delegation and Congress will advocate for the true beliefs of North Carolinians, and it is a fact that we will send one more Republican to Congress from this great state.
WAGNER: Republicans say they only considered political data when crafting the districts. North Carolina and federal courts have said they cannot overturn maps due to partisan gerrymandering. But courts can throw out a map if it prevents a minority group from having the power to elect a representative of its choice, and Democrats say that's what the new map does. State representative Gloristine Brown says Republicans must've known they were dividing the region known as North Carolina's Black Belt.
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GLORISTINE BROWN: You didn't need to use racial data because every single member of this body knows about the Black population in the northeastern part of this state.
WAGNER: Arguments like this one will likely be the basis of any lawsuit challenging the new map. That's expected to be the next step because North Carolina's Democratic governor cannot veto redistricting proposals.
For NPR News, I'm Adam Wagner in Raleigh.
(SOUNDBITE OF COUCH'S "MEINE MARKE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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