When we released our 2024 House ratings last Thursday, we wrote that Republicans have a huge insurance policy in their efforts to keep their new majority next fall: upcoming re-redistricting in North Carolina and Ohio. In 2022, both states' supreme courts struck down GOP legislatures' gerrymanders, leading to temporary maps that helped Democrats gain seats. But newly GOP-friendly courts could more than erase those gains.
Right on cue, last Friday the newly GOP-controlled North Carolina Supreme Court agreed to revisit the case that threw out the legislature's original gerrymander, scheduling a hearing for March 14. This week, we'll examine North Carolina. Next week, we'll dive into Ohio.
Republicans hold strong legislative majorities in North Carolina (30-20 in the senate and 71-49 in the house), and it's a rare state where redistricting maps aren't subject to gubernatorial veto, meaning Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has no role in the process. The only check on the GOP's whims is the state supreme court, which is also an elected partisan body. In November, Republicans picked up two seats, flipping it from 4-3 Democratic to
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