NC Gov. Stein: Redrawing 2026 maps would ‘destroy the politics of this country’
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- North Carolina Republicans may redraw maps again before 2026 elections.
- Gov. Josh Stein opposes frequent redistricting as harmful to democracy.
- Sen. Phil Berger cites California as a justification amid ongoing national fight.
Will North Carolina’s General Assembly try to redraw congressional maps this year?
Republican Senate leader Phil Berger says they might, a move that Democratic Gov. Josh Stein calls “ridiculous” and representative of a worldview that will “destroy this country.”
Yet Stein declined to criticize the moves fellow Democrats are making as part of the tit-for-tat struggle over political maps that is spreading across the country.
Stein told reporters on Tuesday that it would be “ridiculous” to redraw maps in North Carolina. “We just redistricted for the second time, last cycle. So what, every two years, is the theory that we’re going to redistrict so we can maximize the political advantage, to stick it to one party and enhance another party? That is not how redistricting works.”
The legislature redrew maps ahead of both the 2022 and 2024 congressional elections, the most recent of which gave Republicans an advantage of 10 seats to four.
“We cannot get into this maximalist political power worldview, because it will destroy this country. It will destroy the politics of this country,” Stein said after a Council of State meeting in Raleigh when asked about Berger’s comment.
“We have to be able to recognize sometimes you win an election, sometimes you lose an election. When you lose, you gather your forces. You work harder, you try to convince the voters the next time. When you win, you work your tail off to deliver on the promises that you made to people so they’ll reelect you. That’s how it’s supposed to work,” he said.
Stein called a potential map redraw, which could come ahead of the 2026 election, “so damaging to our politics.”
When a political party’s candidate loses a race because the candidate wasn’t as good, Stein went on to say, the idea should not be to “take a few precincts out of this so that we can really stick it to this guy who the voters already embraced.”
The fight over redistricting, and gerrymandering, has often ended up in court and continues to be a national political fight.
Berger’s social media post said: “I’ve been watching what’s going on in California with Gavin Newsom trying to steal the Republican majority in Congress. We have drawn four Congressional maps in the last six years in redistricting fights with Democrats because of their sue-until-blue strategy. If we have to draw one more map this year, we will.”
Democrats sued over a map that was redrawn by court order.
Berger went on to deny a media report that redrawing maps would be part of a deal to secure an endorsement from President Donald Trump in Berger’s 2026 primary vs. Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page.
Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, has proposed new congressional maps, saying in an August letter to Trump that ““If you will not stand down, I will be forced to lead an effort to redraw the maps in California to offset the rigging of maps in red states,” NPR station CapRadio reported.
The district that could be redrawn is the 1st Congressional District in the eastern part of the state, The News & Observer previously reported. That seat is currently held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis, in the only competitive district, as maps currently stand, for the 2026 election.
Asked by a reporter if Newsom is right to respond by redistricting in his state, Stein said, “Sadly, I think he is.”
“It’s this political maximalist position that is not good for democracy. But you can’t have one side that’s willing to abuse the rules to gain power and then the other side say, ‘Oh, we will do the honest, true and right thing.’ So I’m sympathetic to what California is going through, and I understand why he’s doing it,” Stein said.
This story was originally published September 30, 2025 at 2:28 PM with the headline "NC Gov. Stein: Redrawing 2026 maps would ‘destroy the politics of this country’."
