As redistricting battles loom across the country and many Republican-led legislatures are considering new voter suppression laws, an editorial from the News & Observer asked the question: “Is NC next?” A new NRCC memo signals that they are already planning to double down on relying on partisan gerrymandering to win back seats, including North Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District:

“The “Redistricting Watch” targets present 10 opportunities for Republicans to defeat Democrats in states that will lose or gain seats after redistricting. The list includes two new targets from last cycle as well as four Democrats in states that are losing seats in which the incumbent underperformed the top of the ticket. Deborah Ross is part of this group as a new targeted seat for the cycle. Ross underperformed the top of the ticket in a state that is expected to gain house seats in a Republican-controlled redistricting process.”

As the News & Observer writes: “Election law disputes have dominated North Carolina politics for a decade as Republican lawmakers have sought to restrict voting and Democrats have sought to make it easier.” In North Carolina, legislatie Republicans have passed some of the most restrictive voting laws in history, including maps that were struck down by courts for targeting African Americans with “surgical precision.” 

Even as “polls have shown that most North Carolinians oppose the way the legislature does redistricting and want reforms to make it less politicized,” Washington Republicans are already signaling that Republican-led legislatures should do more of the same —  draw favorable maps to win back House seats. An article from The Atlantic calls it the “GOP Cheat Code,” where “Republican states could impose gerrymanders that prevent the nation’s growing nonwhite population from building political power commensurate with its numbers—even though voters of color accounted for about four in five newly eligible voters in the past decade.”

“North Carolinians deserve a fair redistricting process that gives the power to the people, instead of politicians in back rooms,” said NCDP Chairman Wayne Goodwin. “But North Carolina Republicans have decided countless times that rigging the game in their favor is more important than empowering the voices and votes of all people across the state, and North Carolinians should be prepared to fight back.”

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