Challenge to GOP's gerrymander in crucial battleground state suffers early loss

A panel of Republican-appointed federal judges dealt an early blow to a lawsuit seeking to have the North Carolina GOP's mid-decade gerrymander of state congressional districts tossed as a violation of the Voting Rights Act.

North Carolina Republicans already aggressively redrew their congressional maps after winning control of the state Supreme Court this decade, creating a map to reliably elect 10 Republicans and four Democrats in a state that routinely has razor-thin statewide results.

However, earlier this year, the legislature did yet another redraw in response to President Donald Trump's demand for Republicans to create extra seats for themselves, reconfiguring the 1st and 3rd Districts to try to draw out Democratic Rep. Don Davis, who represents a heavily Black area of the state.

Plaintiffs, including the state NAACP, argued in a suit that the redraw is a scheme to deprive Black voters of their rights.

But in an order on Wednesday, a three-judge panel consisting of Allison Rushing and Richard Myers, two Trump appointees, and Thomas Schroeder, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, disagreed and declined to grant a preliminary injunction.

"We conclude that ... Plaintiffs, at this stage of the case, have failed to make 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 living in CD 1 or 3," said the opinion. “Because Plaintiffs at this point in the litigation have not made a clear showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits of any claim advanced in their motions, a preliminary injunction is unwarranted.”

While litigation will continue, the ruling makes it all but guaranteed the GOP's new map will be used in the 2026 midterms.

This comes as Republicans suffer setbacks on some other redistricting fronts, including retaliation from Democrats in California, and a court ruling that suspended the GOP's gerrymander of Texas — though the Supreme Court has put that order on hold and may overrule it in coming days.