Senate committee approves mid‑decade congressional map that alters NC‑1 and NC‑3

Raleigh — The North Carolina Senate Elections Committee voted to report favorably on Senate Bill 249, a proposed committee substitute that would redraw parts of two Eastern North Carolina congressional districts, moving multiple counties between NC‑1 and NC‑3.

Sponsor Senator Hice, who presented the plan to the committee, said the redraw’s purpose was explicit: "Draw a new map that will bring an additional Republican seat to the North Carolina congressional delegation." He told the committee that the proposal changes only two of the state’s 14 districts: "The only districts that are changed in the new proposal are NC‑1 and NC‑3." He also said, "absolutely no racial data was used in the creation of this map."

The plan moves Green, Lenoir, Wayne and Wilson counties from District 1 into District 3 and moves Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde and Pamlico counties from District 3 into District 1. To balance population the plan shifts 4,853 people (2.4% of Onslow County’s 204,576 population under the 2020 census) by splitting the Swansboro precinct. The sponsor said the changes increase President Trump’s 2024 performance in NC‑1 from 51% to about 55% and reduce NC‑3 from about 60% to about 56%, and that the end result “should perform to elect 11 Republicans.”

Senator Hice also described compactness metrics the committee used, saying the draft…