By Joseph Ax
NEW YORK (Reuters) -North Carolina's Republican-controlled legislature passed a new congressional map on Wednesday aimed at securing the party another seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, expanding President Donald Trump's campaign to use partisan redistricting to help Republicans keep control of Congress in next year's midterm elections.
The state's previous map, approved by Republicans only two years ago, was already heavily skewed, allowing Republicans to win 10 of 14 U.S. House
seats in 2024 despite North Carolina's status as a closely divided swing state. While the governor, Josh Stein, is a Democrat, state law does not allow the governor to veto redistricting plans.
North Carolina is the third Republican-controlled state this year to heed Trump's call for a rare mid-decade redistricting, following Texas and Missouri. Other Republican states, including Ohio, Kansas and Indiana, are either planning or considering similar moves, while California Democrats have advanced their own redistricting plan to combat Texas' map.
Redistricting typically occurs only once a decade following the U.S. Census to account for population shifts. But Texas Republicans' decision to approve a new map intended to flip five Democratic seats has triggered a national redistricting battle.
Republicans, who control more states than Democrats, appear poised to gain seats when all is said and done. The House elections are expected to be hotly contested next year, with Democrats needing to flip only three Republican-held seats from 2024 to win back a majority.
The U.S. Senate is considered more of a long shot for Democrats, who would have to defend several vulnerable seats while also winning races in solidly Republican states to capture a majority.
U.S. Representative Don Davis, the North Carolina Democrat who appears likely to lose his seat under the new map, called the redistricting "beyond the pale" in a statement.
Trump praised the map in a social media post, and the Republican speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Destin Hall, reposted the message, adding, "We're putting America First in NC!"
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
