GOP Set to Add Another Seat to House In State Redistricting Effort
A nationwide redistricting battle is unfolding, largely encouraged by President Donald Trump, as Republican-led legislatures across several states face growing pressure from the former president and his allies to create additional GOP-leaning congressional districts and solidify the party’s House majority.
In North Carolina, Republican lawmakers are advancing a new congressional map, joining a series of states—including Texas and Missouri—undertaking aggressive redistricting efforts ahead of next year’s midterm elections. The proposed map would target the district currently represented by Democratic Rep. Don Davis and give Republicans a likely advantage in 11 of the state’s 14 House seats, up from the current 10.
If enacted, North Carolina’s new map would bring the number of newly drawn, Republican-favored districts nationwide this year to seven.
Meanwhile, in California, likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender and current Gov. Gavin Newsom is seeking to redistrict his state in a bid to counter the GOP-led effort throughout the country. A ballot issue set for a vote in November will determine whether the state assembly will be able to temporarily sideline California’s independent redistricting commission so that they can add five Democrat-leaning districts.
North Carolina has become the latest GOP-controlled state to launch a mid-decade redistricting effort — a process that has historically been uncommon, CNN reported.
North Carolina Sen. Ralph Hise, a Republican involved in overseeing the redistricting process, emphasized the high stakes of the effort in blunt terms.
“The motivation behind this redraw is simple and singular: draw a new map that will bring an additional Republican seat to the congressional delegation,” he said.
If Democrats take control of the House, they will “torpedo President Trump’s agenda,” Hise noted further, per CNN.
State lawmakers convened their first public meeting on the new congressional map Monday morning and approved the proposal in the state Senate the following day, despite strong opposition from Democrats and protesters who gathered at the Capitol in Raleigh.
The measure now heads to the state House for consideration.
Under North Carolina law, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein does not have the authority to veto redistricting plans, CNN said.
North Carolina remains a battleground state, with Democrats such as Stein and former Gov. Roy Cooper winning statewide elections in recent years. However, Republican leaders this week defended the newly drawn congressional map’s partisan tilt, arguing that it reflects Trump’s continued electoral successes there.
“This new map respects the will of the North Carolina voters who sent President Trump to the White House three times,” the state Sen. Phil Berger, the top Republican in the Senate, said in a statement, according to CNN.
Republican lawmakers in Texas initiated the latest round of redistricting earlier this year with a map designed to create five additional GOP-leaning congressional districts. In Missouri, Republicans approved new district boundaries aimed at adding one more Republican seat to the state’s delegation.
Both maps face ongoing legal challenges, and in Missouri, activists have launched a petition drive seeking to overturn the new plan.
Republicans currently hold a structural advantage in the redistricting process, controlling the governor’s office and both legislative chambers in 23 states, compared with 15 under full Democratic control.
Several other GOP-led states are also considering new congressional maps. In Kansas, lawmakers have allocated $460,000 to fund a potential special session aimed at redrawing district boundaries that could affect the state’s lone Democratic member of Congress, four-term Rep. Sharice Davids.
Calling such a session would require approval from two-thirds of both the state House and Senate.
In Indiana, where Republicans currently hold a 7–2 advantage in the U.S. House delegation, the White House has reportedly encouraged GOP lawmakers in the state legislature to pursue an additional seat held by Democrats. Vice President J.D. Vance has made two visits to the state to discuss the effort with legislators.
Meanwhile, Ohio and Utah—both under Republican control—remain engaged in ongoing redistricting disputes that began prior to Trump’s return to office.
Tim Walz Drops Big News About His Political Future
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said this week that he will not run for elected office again after completing his current term, effectively ending his long career in electoral politics. Walz, a Democrat who was the party’s vice presidential nominee in 2024, made the announcement in an interview, stating that he had “no political consideration” to seek future office and that he intends to focus on other ways to serve once his term ends in early 2027.
“I will never run for office again,” Walz told MS NOW.
Walz first became governor in 2019 and served in the U.S. House of Representatives before that. His decision not to pursue further elected office closes the door on any future campaigns after years in public life.
The announcement comes as the 2026 gubernatorial contest in Minnesota is already under way, with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar formally entering the race to succeed him and a number of Republican candidates also vying for the open seat.
Walz’s exit reshapes the political landscape in Minnesota weeks before the state’s primary season, with party officials and voters preparing for a competitive election cycle.
Earlier this month, Walz surprised state and national political observers by withdrawing from the 2026 Minnesota gubernatorial race. He had launched a bid for a third term but faced intense scrutiny over a large fraud scandal involving state welfare programs and sustained criticism from political opponents.
Walz then wrote on X/Twitter that he had “decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.”
Feeding Our Future is a nonprofit that prosecutors say falsely claimed to provide meals to children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning in 2022, federal authorities charged dozens of people connected to the organization, most of them of Somali origin.
In March, a federal jury found nonprofit founder and executive director Aimee Bock and Salim Said guilty for their roles in a $250 million fraud scheme tied to a government-funded children’s nutrition program. Said was a co-owner of a local restaurant that supplied meals under the program.
Prosecutors alleged that Bock and Said used proceeds from the scheme to purchase property, luxury vehicles, and international travel.
Bock, who is not Somali, was the subject of federal raids on her home and offices and was convicted on seven federal charges, including bribery. She has not yet been sentenced.
Said, who is also awaiting sentencing, was convicted on 20 federal charges, including bribery and money laundering. Both face potential sentences of up to 30 years in prison.
Also, the U.S. Department of Labor has since announced plans for a targeted review of Minnesota’s unemployment insurance program amid increased scrutiny of fraud in the state’s human services programs, an issue that has gained political attention at the national level.
In a letter to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the department said recent news reports detailing fraud in Medicaid-funded human services programs could indicate potential fraud or abuse within the state’s unemployment benefits system.
“If there has been any related abuse of our (unemployment insurance) systems, it will not be tolerated, and I trust our specialized strike team to get to the bottom of this and report their findings directly to me,” Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a press release, per the Minnesota Reformer.
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Also, Chavez-DeRemer told Fox Business that her agency was sending an unemployment insurance ‘strike team’ to Minnesota to widen the fraud probe.
Finally, videographer Nick Shirley has produced two bombshell videos highlighting was he says is more widespread fraud mostly within Minneapolis’ Somali community, including phony daycare centers and ghost ‘transportation’ companies.
