As the 2026 midterm elections draw closer, a fierce battle over redistricting is sweeping through several Republican-led states, with North Carolina and Utah emerging as flashpoints in the fight over the future of congressional representation. At the heart of the controversy are newly proposed district maps and legislative maneuvers that critics say are designed to entrench GOP power, often at the expense of voter-approved reforms and longstanding democratic principles.
In North Carolina, the Republican-controlled General Assembly is poised to vote on a new congressional district map that, if approved, could significantly bolster the GOP’s hold on the U.S. House. According to NC Newsline, this move comes just days after House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger reached an agreement to redraw the state’s districts, responding directly to former President Donald Trump’s call for Republicans nationwide to eliminate Democratic seats wherever possible ahead of the 2026 midterms.
The proposed North Carolina map would consolidate the Outer Banks counties into a single district and attempt to flip a seat currently held by Democrat Don Davis. The Third District, currently represented by Republican Greg Murphy, would be redrawn to encompass Greenville, shrinking its geographic scope. Meanwhile, Dare, Hyde, Beaufort, Craven, and Carteret counties would be shifted into the First District—now held by Davis—while Davis’s home county would move to the Third District. This change is no mere technicality: the new First District would have voted roughly 55% Republican to 44% Democratic in the 2024 presidential election, a sharp turn from the narrow Democratic edge it held in 2020.
This isn’t the first time Republicans have attempted to redraw Davis out of office. After a 2023 map tilted the district towards the GOP, Davis nevertheless managed to win reelection in 2024 by a slim 50% to 48% margin. Under North Carolina law, members of Congress need only reside somewhere in the state, so Davis could still run for the seat, but the political odds are increasingly stacked against him. No Democrats have so far indicated plans to challenge Davis in a primary, but the Republican field is already crowded, with state Senator Bobby Hanig and Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson both planning to seek the GOP nomination. Lenoir County Commissioner Eric Rouse had also announced a run, but the new map would move his county into Murphy’s district, complicating his path.
The legislative process is moving quickly. Hall’s office announced that public comment on the map is now open, and the state Senate’s Elections Committee was scheduled to consider the bill at 10 a.m. on October 20. Notably, North Carolina’s Constitution exempts redistricting bills from gubernatorial veto, meaning the Republican majority can push the map through with a simple vote. Filing for the 2026 elections is set for December 1 to 19, with the primary on March 3. Still, legal challenges are almost certain, and past lawsuits have forced North Carolina to conduct congressional primaries separately from other races.
Despite the rapid pace of change, public sentiment appears firmly against gerrymandering. A September poll cited by NC Newsline found that 87% of Democrats and 78% of Republicans in North Carolina oppose partisan map-drawing. Yet, the legislature’s actions seem to fly in the face of this bipartisan consensus, raising questions about the disconnect between elected officials and their constituents.
Utah, meanwhile, is embroiled in its own high-stakes redistricting drama—one that experts say may be even more brazen than North Carolina’s. As reported by Democracy Docket, Utah Republicans are working to maintain control of all four of the state’s congressional seats, despite a recent court order mandating the creation of fair, voter-approved maps. The state’s saga began in 2018, when voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 4, establishing an independent redistricting commission. The GOP-controlled legislature quickly repealed Prop 4 and drew gerrymandered maps, sparking a protracted legal battle with voting rights groups.
In September 2025, the Utah Supreme Court sided with reformers, upholding Prop 4 and ordering lawmakers to submit compliant maps by November. But on the eve of the redistricting committee’s first meeting, Republican Senator Brady Brammer introduced SB 1011—a bill that would replace judicial review with three so-called "partisan bias" tests. These tests, critics argue, are cleverly engineered to guarantee continued GOP dominance. For instance, one test requires each district’s partisan makeup to mirror the GOP-friendly statewide results of the last 12 years, while another compares proposed maps to computer simulations controlled by Republican lawmakers.
Within days, both SB 1011 and a new GOP-friendly map were rushed through the legislature and signed by Governor Spencer Cox. According to Michael Li, senior counsel at the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, "Utah comes to mind as a particularly brazen example" of efforts to sidestep fair redistricting. Li explained to Democracy Docket that, "It’s not a problem that they propose these tests, it’s a problem that they’ve tried to tie the court’s hands with these tests. That’s the issue."
Elizabeth Rasmussen, executive director of the anti-gerrymandering group Better Boundaries, described the situation as a "flashback to the past," recalling previous legislative moves to subvert Prop 4. She told Democracy Docket, "The whole idea of the legislature trying to find ways around these checks on their power has continued to happen. They’re just a little better at it, because they have to be. Because they keep getting additional checks." Pro-voting groups have now filed legal challenges to SB 1011, submitting alternative maps and arguing that the legislature’s actions "purposefully and unduly favor Republicans and disfavors Democrats in violation of Proposition 4’s prohibition on partisan favoritism." Rasmussen remains optimistic, noting, "We are coming off of—this is now four significant court wins. That being said, we’re still seeing the legislature try to find ways to subvert this law and this process that voters put in place."
The drama escalated further when the Utah Republican Party filed paperwork to gather signatures for a referendum to repeal both the legislature’s new map and Prop 4 itself—a move the party had endorsed just weeks earlier. State GOP Chair Rob Axson explained to local media that the party’s goal is to return control of redistricting to the legislature, not the voters. Rasmussen, for her part, called the referendum effort "desperate, transparent attempts to run out the clock, obstruct court-ordered reforms, and confuse the public ahead of 2026. They do nothing to serve Utahns—only to protect gerrymandered power."
With redistricting wars raging from North Carolina to Utah, the outcome of these legal and political battles will shape not only the 2026 midterms but the very nature of representation and democracy in America’s states. As lawmakers and courts clash, and voters demand fair maps, the struggle over who draws the lines—and for whom—remains as contentious as ever.