Federal Court Ratifies Redrawn First District for 2026 Election

A federal three-judge panel—all of whom were chosen by Republican presidents—has granted NC Republican legislative leaders their redrawn First Congressional District for the 2026 midterm elections, denying a preliminary injunction from the NC NAACP, Common Cause NC, and other plaintiffs, to stop it.

“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,” the judges ruled.

The panel ruled the day before Thanksgiving in a 57-page order that arguments against the newly drawn First Congressional District by the NC NAACP, Common Cause NC, and plaintiffs from the affected First and Third Districts were not enough to strike the newly drawn First District down.

State Republicans Celebrate

This means that the new GOP-leaning First District—currently represented by moderate Black Democratic Congressman Don Davis—will likely vote Republican next year, giving President Trump at least a one extra Congressional seat, an advantage he can count on to get his agenda through the US House in 2026 through 2028. The Republican-led NC General Assembly redrew the First District in October.

Davis has said he will still run for reelection in the First District. Candidate filing for the 2026 midterm elections began Monday, December 1, 2025, in the state.

Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger was happy with the court victory. “As Democrat-run states like California do everything in their power to undermine President Trump’s administration and agenda, North Carolina Republicans went to work to protect the America First Agenda,” Berger said in a statement. “North Carolinians voted to send President Trump to the White House in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and this new map reflects that support.”

Plaintiffs Vow to Continue Fighting

Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause NC, was not pleased.

“This ruling gives credence to what will be the most gerrymandered congressional map in state history, a map that intentionally retaliates against voters in eastern North Carolina for supporting a candidate not preferred by the majority party,” Phillips said. “I believe the lawmakers responsible for the map and for this misguided ruling know they are wrong and will be judged accordingly. Meanwhile, our fight for fair maps continues, and our fight for voters living in these distorted districts will carry on, with more energy than ever. Ultimately, we the people will prevail.”

The plaintiffs had argued that the Republican-drawn voting map was a retaliation against voters in the previous First District for re-electing a Democrat to represent them in Congress in 2024. The NC NAACP and Common Cause NC, along with several other plaintiffs, also argued that redrawing the First District encroached on the historic “Black Belt” counties in the northeastern part of the state, thus denying Black voters their choice of congressional representative as guaranteed by the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The three-judge panel didn’t agree, however. Instead, the court ruled that plaintiffs’ argument raised political questions “beyond the reach of the courts.”

Texas Seats Okayed, California Seats Under Challenge

Shortly before that ruling, five Republican-leaning seats that Texas redrew to please the Republican president had been constitutionally struck down in lower courts as a racial gerrymander. Days later, however, in early December the conservative US Supreme Court allowed them to survive as a “partisan gerrymander.” And, having won their extra seats in Texas, Republican activists are challenging five redrawn seats (all likely to elect Democrats) that California voters passed last month to counter the Texas gerrymandering, claiming that they are racial gerrymanders.

NAACP Will Appeal

The NC NAACP has vowed to appeal the ruling, most likely directly to the US Supreme Court.

“We must continue this fight,” said Deborah Dicks Maxwell, president of the NC NAACP. “And we will take it wherever we can. Because people deserve their constitutional rights.”

“Enough is enough,” Maxwell continued. “This is the swift urgency of now that we must continue to fight for the rights of people to be represented by people who want to represent them. Not just have their name where they can go and vote for someone who is threatening them that we need to have another congressional district.”