NC Democrats' parity in Congress delegation may be fleeting
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democrats celebrated winning what was billed as North Carolina's lone toss-up race for the U.S. House this month, as state Sen. Wiley Nickel’s narrow victory over Republican Bo Hines in the 13th Congressional District helped weaken any national GOP midterm wave.
Nickel's win creates a 7-7 split in the state’s delegation, marking the best showing for state Democrats after a decade of trailing the GOP in an otherwise closely divided state. Trial judges drew the latest district boundaries after redistricting litigation successfully blocked maps passed by the Republican-controlled legislature that could have whittled Democrats down to four seats.
“We’re a 50-50 state — we should have a 7-to-7 delegation," Nickel told The Associated Press this week during a break in his congressional orientation in Washington. "When we have fair maps, we get fair results that reflect the choice of the voters.”
But there’s a good chance Nickel's Raleigh-area district and others will be dramatically altered for the 2024 elections, returning the advantage to Republicans.
A confluence of events opens the door for General Assembly Republicans to pass their preferred congressional map in 2023 and have it used the following year. A new GOP majority on the state Supreme Court likely will be more skeptical of legal challenges that allege excessive partisanship.
“Seven-seven does not reflect the will of the voters in North Carolina,” House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters the day after the election. “So it should be something different. I don’t know what that is. But at the end of the day ... let’s trust the voters of this state.”
Republicans hold eight of the state’s 13 U.S. House districts through the year’s end. Population growth gave North Carolina a 14th seat with the...