Gov. Stein sounds off on ‘ridiculous’ mid-decade redistricting push ...Middle East

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, seen here speaking to reporters as he unveiled his two-year budget proposal on March 19, 2025, says North Carolina will appeal a recent Trump administration decision to reduce federal funding to areas ravaged by Hurricane Helene. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)

In remarks after the Council of State meeting Tuesday, Gov. Josh Stein condemned efforts to redraw North Carolina’s congressional map in the middle of the decade after comments by Republican leadership.

“It would be ridiculous to do so. We just redistricted for the second time last cycle. So every two years is the theory that we’re gonna redistrict, so we can maximize the political advantage to stick it to one party and enhance another party?” Stein said. “We cannot get into this maximalist political power worldview because it will destroy this country.”

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger wrote in a social media post Thursday that he would be open to pursuing mid-decade redistricting in North Carolina after Republican-led states like Texas and Missouri have adopted new maps at President Donald Trump’s behest.

“We have drawn four Congressional maps in the last six years in redistricting fights with Democrats because of their sue-until-blue strategy,” Berger wrote on X. “If we have to draw one more map this year, we will.”

Currently, North Carolina’s congressional map consists of 10 Republican-held seats and four Democratic-held seats. Only the 1st Congressional District, held by Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.), was decided by a margin of less than 10% of the vote in 2024.

“That’s not how redistricting works,” Stein said. “You do it once a decade unless you’re ordered by the courts to redraw because your first effort violated the law. And then you wait till the next census, and then you redistrict again.”

He characterized the attempt as symptomatic of a larger win-at-all-costs mentality overtaking American politics.

“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 hard, you try to convince the voters the next time,” he said.

The Republican redistricting campaign has driven Democratic efforts to redraw maps in states they control, most notably in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom is backing a referendum that would allow his party to draw out Republican seats after suspending a map created by an independent panel.

Stein said that Newsom’s approach is the right one despite his concerns over politicized congressional maps.

“Sadly, I think he is, because of what’s going on in Texas, what’s going on in Missouri,” Stein said. “Again, it’s this political maximalist position that is not good for our 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.”

“I’m sympathetic to what California’s going through and I understand why he’s doing it,” he added.

Stein still reviewing crime bill

Stein declined to give further insight into his thinking on provisions of Iryna’s Law, a crime bill passed by the General Assembly in response to the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte. The legislation has remained on the governor’s desk since its passage last Tuesday.

“It’s an immensely complicated law, and it’s an immensely complicated subject, how do we promote public safety?” Stein told reporters. “I want to make sure that the law is making us safer instead of making us less safe. And so I’m doing a thorough review as I hope people would expect me to do.”

Asked about provisions in the bill seeking to resume executions in the state, Stein said he is “studying the bill in its entirety to understand what its full impact is.”

He also reiterated a call he made in Southport days after a mass shooting in the city for greater mental health support.

“There are a lot of people out there who are struggling, the vast majority of whom are no threat to anybody else, but they deserve to be healthy,” Stein said. “But there are people out there who do live in a paranoid world of violent fantasies and we, a lot of times, know who they are, we just don’t have systems to address those concerns. We’ve got to figure out a way to do that and we can.”

The attack in Southport, which left three dead and five hospitalized, loomed large over Tuesday’s Council of State meeting, with Stein, Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt, and State Auditor Dave Boliek among those who acknowledged the victims. Attorney General Jeff Jackson said he has been “offering full support” to the Southport police and Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office.

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