According to the unofficial 2020 US Census figures, North Carolina will gain a congressional seat for the 2022 election, giving North Carolina 14 representatives in the US House.
Adding a congressional district will also require the current 13 districts all be redrawn – some most likely dramatically. The Sixth District was redrawn in 2019 for the 2020 election and currently includes all of Guilford County and the eastern portion of Forsyth County, which includes most of Winston-Salem.
Sixth District Congressman Mark Walker has represented the Sixth District since 2014 and has never run in the same district twice. Walker chose not to run for reelection in the current heavily Democratic Sixth District and has announced he is running in the 2022 race for the US Senate seat currently held by Sen. Richard Burr, who is not running for reelection.
The Sixth District Congresswoman-elect is Kathy Manning, who easily won election in 2020 over Republican Lee Haywood.
One thing is certain, Manning will not run for reelection in the same Sixth District that she won in 2020. Dividing the state into 14 equal pieces is decidedly different from dividing the state into 13 equal districts.
The Republicans maintained their majorities in both the state House and Senate, which means Republicans will control the redistricting process.
If the past is any indication of the future, the Republican-drawn districts will be challenged in court by some Democratic group. The Republicans control the legislature but the Democrats have a 4-to-3 advantage on the North Carolina Supreme Court.
The big loser in the 2020 Census according to the unofficial results is going to be New York, which will lose two seats in Congress. California for the first time ever is predicted to lose one seat while Texas will gain three and Florida would gain two. If you’re keeping score, generally blue states are losing congressional seats and red states are gaining them.
