North Carolina's congressional districts

After the 1990 Census, the US Department of Justice directed North Carolina under VRA preclearance to submit a map with two majority-minority districts. The resultant map with two such districts, the 1st and 12th, was the subject of lawsuits by voters who claimed that it was an illegal racial gerrymander. A three judge panel of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina dismissed the suit, which was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 28, 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Shaw v. Reno, found that the 12th congressional district was an unlawful racial gerrymander. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's opinion found that if a district's shape, like the 12th's, was "so bizarre on its face that it is 'unexplainable on grounds other than race'," that it would be subject to strict scrutiny as a racial gerrymander, and remanded the case to the Eastern District of North Carolina.

On August 22, 1994 the District Court on remand in Shaw v. Hunt found that the 12th Congressional District was an racial gerrymander (as the Supreme Court had directed), but ruled that the map satisfied strict scrutiny due to the compelling interest of compliance with the Voting Rights Act and increasing black political power.[1] This was again appealed to the Supreme Court, which reversed the District Court on June 13, 1996 and found that the North Carolina plan violated the Equal Protection Clause and that the 12 District did not satisfy a compelling interest.

North Carolina drew a new map following Shaw v. Hunt, and the new maps were duly challenged. A three judge panel of the Eastern District of North Carolina granted summary judgment that the new boundaries were an illegal racial gerrymander.[2] This was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in Hunt v. Cromartie on May 17, 1999 unanimously ruled that the District Court was in error to grant summary judgment and remanded the case for the District Court to hold a trial. After the ensuing trial, the District Court ruled that the 12th District was an illegal racial gerrymander on March 7, 2000.[3] This was again duly appealed, now as Easley v. Cromartie, and the U.S. Supreme Court on April 18, 2001 reversed the District Court and ruled that the 12th District boundaries were legal. The Court's opinion held that the 12th District was not a racial gerrymander, but that it was a partisan gerrymander, which was a political question that the courts should not rule upon. Justice O'Connor, the author of Shaw v. Hunt was the swing justice who switched sides to uphold the district.

In February 2016, a three-judge panel of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina judges ruled that the 1st and 12th districts' boundaries were unconstitutional and required new maps to be drawn by the legislature to be used for the 2016 election.[4] On 22 May 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Cooper v. Harris, agreed that the 1st and 12th congressional district boundaries were unlawful racial gerrymanders, the latest in a series of cases dating back to 1993 by different parties challenging various configurations of those districts since their first creation.[5][6]

In January 2018 a federal court struck down North Carolina's congressional map, declaring it unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republican candidates. The court ordered that the North Carolina General Assembly must redraw the district maps prior to the 2018 congressional elections.[7] However, the United States Supreme Court stayed the federal court order pending review,[8] and in June 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in Rucho v. Common Cause, by a 5–4 vote, that partisan gerrymandering is a "political question" that the federal courts have no place to rule on.[9][10]

This image shows the current NC Congressional districts, which were struck down on 9 January 2018 by a federal court.[11][7] Due to a stay on the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, these districts were used in the 2018 midterm elections pending appeal.

On 3 September 2019 a three-judge panel in a 357 page ruling unanimously struck down the Republican-led state legislature drawn 2017 enacted maps,[12][13] which were drawn to replace the 2011 maps which were also ruled unconstitutional and thrown out on racial grounds.[14] The court ruled that the state House and state Senate districts maps were such an extreme partisan gerrymander that they violated the state constitution. In the ruling the state legislature was ordered by the court to immediately start drawing new maps; the court demanded that they be drawn based on criteria like population, contiguity, and county lines. Districts had to be drawn without "partisan considerations and election results data," and done so in plain view, a departure from the closed-door processes the ruling eschews. "At a minimum, that would require all map drawing to occur at public hearings, with any relevant computer screen visible to legislators and public observers." The judges said the new maps had to be completed in two weeks; they also said they reserved the right to move the 2020 primary election if needed.[15]

In October 2019, a panel of three judges ruled that the map was an unfair partisan gerrymander and had to be redrawn.[16] On 15 November 2019 the North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill that drew new districts that were used for the 2020 elections. The 2nd and 6th districts were drawn to be more favorable to Democrats under the new proposal.[17] On 2 December 2019 a three-judge panel ruled that newly Republican-drawn congressional district maps completed in November 2019 would stand for federal elections in 2020. The maps allowed to stay in place on 2 December 2019 would only be used once. After the 2020 United States Census the congressional districts will be redrawn again in 2021.[18]

List of members of the North Carolinian United States House delegation, their terms, their district boundaries, and the districts' political rating according to the CPVI. The delegation has a total of 13 members, with 8 Republicans, and 5 Democrats. These districts reflect the 2016 proposal which was used in the 2016 and 2018 elections. New districts drawn and passed by the North Carolina General Assembly were used for the 2020 elections.

District	Representative	Party	CPVI	Incumbency	District map
1st	G. K. Butterfield	Democratic	D+4	20 July 2004 – present
2nd	Deborah Ross	Democratic	D+9	3 January 2021 – present
3rd	Greg Murphy	Republican	R+12	17 September 2019 – present
4th	David Price	Democratic	D+14	3 January 1997 – present
5th	Virginia Foxx	Republican	R+18	3 January 2005 – present
6th	Kathy Manning	Democratic	D+9	3 January 2021 – present
7th	David Rouzer	Republican	R+11	3 January 2015 – present
8th	Richard Hudson	Republican	R+5	3 January 2013 – present
9th	Dan Bishop	Republican	R+7	17 September 2019 – present
10th	Patrick McHenry	Republican	R+20	3 January 2005 – present
11th	Madison Cawthorn	Republican	R+9	3 January 2021 – present
12th	Alma Adams	Democratic	D+18	4 November 2014 – present
13th	Ted Budd	Republican	R+19	3 January 2017 – present

Table of United States congressional district boundary maps in the State of North Carolina, presented chronologically.[19] All redistricting events that took place in North Carolina between 1973 and 2013 are shown, congressional composition is listed on the right.

Year	Statewide map	Charlotte highlight	Congressional Composition
1973–1982			1973–1975: 7 Democrats, 4 Republicans 1975–1977: 9 Democrats, 2 Republicans 1977–1979: 9 Democrats, 2 Republicans 1979–1981: 9 Democrats, 2 Republicans 1981–1983: 7 Democrats, 4 Republicans
1983–1992			1983–1985: 9 Democrats, 2 Republicans 1985–1987: 6 Democrats, 5 Republicans 1987–1989: 8 Democrats, 3 Republicans 1989–1991: 8 Democrats, 3 Republicans 1991–1993: 7 Democrats, 4 Republicans
1993–1998			1993–1995: 8 Democrats, 4 Republicans 1995–1997: 4 Democrats, 8 Republicans 1997–1999: 6 Democrats, 6 Republicans
1999–2000			1999–2001: 5 Democrats, 7 Republicans
2001–2002			2001–2003: 5 Democrats, 7 Republicans
2003–2013			2003–2005: 6 Democrats, 7 Republicans 2005–2007: 6 Democrats, 7 Republicans 2007–2009: 7 Democrats, 6 Republicans 2009–2011: 8 Democrats, 5 Republicans 2011–2013: 7 Democrats, 6 Republicans
2013–2017			2013–2015: 4 Democrats, 9 Republicans 2015–2017: 3 Democrats, 10 Republicans
2017-2021			2017-2019: 3 Democrats, 10 Republicans 2019-2021: 3 Democrats, 10 Republicans
2021-2023			2021-2023: 5 Democrats, 8 Republicans

• List of United States congressional districts
• North Carolina Democratic Party
• North Carolina Republican Party
• Gerrymandering
• Shaw v. Reno

• Libertarian Party of North Carolina
• North Carolina Democratic Party
• North Carolina Republican Party
• Rose Institute of State and Local Government, "North Carolina: 2010 Redistricting Changes", Redistricting by State, Claremont, CA: Claremont McKenna College