This week, North Carolina became the third state to bend the knee to President Donald Trump by passing a gerrymandered congressional map. Much like in Texas and Missouri, the redraw is designed to rig the 2026 election by boosting Republicans at the expense of minority voters.
It’s also the third state where voters are fighting back.
Bishop William J. Barber II, a leading North Carolina progressive voice, announced a lawsuit Thursday challenging the state’s gerrymander. In Missouri, voters are mobilizing to defeat their gerrymander by getting a citizens’ veto referendum on the ballot – even as Republicans sue to block the veto effort. And in Texas, we’re awaiting a ruling from federal judges who could block the state from using the map in 2026.
More GOP-controlled states could be next to do Trump’s bidding, including Indiana, Kansas and Florida. ( Utah and Ohio are gerrymandering, too, but we’re counting them separately since they’re not redrawing for only Trump-related reasons.)
After Texas, Missouri and North Carolina, we now have a recognizable pattern for how these Trump gerrymanders work. Republicans introduce a map that brazenly attacks minority voters. Then they give the public inadequate opportunity to weigh in, ignore their feedback and cut off debate from Democratic lawmakers before quickly calling a vote and enacting their plan.
In North Carolina, Trump’s lackeys shoved the map through the state legislature in just three days. But now the battle moves to the courts. Read more about the North Carolina gerrymander here.
|
