The Democrats celebrated their win in the 13th Congressional District, which was seen as a toss-up.
The 7-7 split in the state's delegation marks the best showing for the Democrats in a long time, after a decade of trailing the GOP. The new district boundaries were drawn by trial judges after the legislature's maps were blocked.
During a break in his congressional orientation in Washington, he told The Associated Press that we should have a 7- to-7 delegation. We get fair results when we have fair maps.
There is a good chance that nickel's Raleigh-area district will be changed for the sake of the GOP.
A confluence of events opens the way for General Assembly Republicans to pass their preferred congressional map in 2023 and use it the following year. The state Supreme Court is likely to be more skeptical of legal challenges that claim excessive partisanship.
The day after the election, House Speaker Tim Moore said that seven-seven does not reflect the will of the voters. It should be something new. I have no idea what that is. Let's trust the voters of this state.
Eight of the state's 13 U.S. House districts are held by Republicans. With population growth, North Carolina gained a 14th seat.
GOP legislators opposed a split opinion by the state Supreme Court last winter that struck down a more favorable map for their party by declaring the state constitution prohibition of partisan gerrymanders.
The judge-drawn map was only used for the races. Republicans will have control of both the House and Senate next year. The plans are not subject to the governor's veto stamp.
Republicans will have a majority on the Supreme Court in January with victories by Richard Dietz and Trey Allen.
The General Assembly's congressional and legislative maps were found to give Republicans outsized favoritism by the current 4-3 Democratic majority. Three Republican justices wrote that the constitution doesn't limit partisan advantage in mapmaking.
The arrival of two more GOP justices makes it more probable that the court would uphold a future congressional map by the legislature while rejecting last year's landmark ruling that defined illegal partisan gerrymander.
Senate leader Phil Berger said he expected the state to move away from the "judicial gerrymander" to a different drawing of congressional maps.
It is too early to say what the next congressional lines will be. The plans approved by the legislature would have put Republicans in control of 10 of the state's 14 congressional seats.
Michael Bitzer is a political science professor at Catawba College in Salisbury.
Jeff Jackson, who won the newly created 14th District seat, and Kathy Manning, who won her third term, are vulnerable.
It is possible that the Supreme Court shift won't happen. State courts could lose the ability to rule on federal election laws if litigation involving the congressional map goes to the Supreme Court. In the case, lawyers for Berger and Moore will argue that the U.S. constitution does not delegate congressional elections to the states.
Even if they are unsuccessful in the U.S. Supreme Court, they have a state Supreme Court that is most likely to be deferential to the legislature.
In federal statewide contests in North Carolina since 2008, Bitzer has found that Republican candidates have won more votes than Democrats. The authors of the state Supreme Court's prevailing and dissenting opinions did not agree with the idea that a political party should be assured of seats at the ballot box.
He doesn't worry about what a map will look like.
The focus is going to be on making some real bipartisan accomplishments in the next congress. I am optimistic that when they draw new maps, we will have a seat.
That's right.
Schoenbaum is a corps member for the AP. A program called Report for America places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.
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