It’s too early to call the US House, but North Carolina has boosted the GOP’s chance to hold the chamber, despite the still-unofficial loss in the state’s only swing district, NC-1.

The United States House of Representatives has 435 seats, with North Carolina electing 14 of those seats. Last Congress, the Republican Party held a narrow 221 seats to 214 majority. Whether Republicans hold this majority comes down to four seats out of hundreds. It appears the GOP could narrowly maintain this majority when the dust settles, but it’s unclear at the moment.

North Carolina’s impact on this picture, however, is massive. While redistricting favored Democrats in other states that drew maps this year — like Alabama and Louisiana — North Carolina’s battle ended with Republicans netting three additional US House seats.

For a quick recap: After the 2020 census, the North Carolina legislature drew new maps in 2021 that accounted for population increases, moving us from 13 to 14 seats. But the Democrat-majority state Supreme Court ruled it was unfair and gerrymandered and imposed a court-drawn map that had an even 7-7 split. This map was used for the 2022 election.

But Republican judges won big in the 2022 election and tipped the balance of the high court. So legislative leaders successfully had the redistricting case reheard and got a ruling in their favor.

The new Republican-drawn congressional maps took the state from an even 7-7 split between the two parties to a breakdown of 10 Republican-dominant seats, three Democrat-dominant seats, and one swing district.

Despite the swing district — NC-1 in the northeast of the state — going for Democrat incumbent Don Davis, this map was still among the biggest boosts towards Republicans maintaining their US House majority. With four seats making the difference in control, North Carolina Republicans provided three solid pickups.

Districts 6, 13, and 14: The Pickups

The GOP won NC-6, NC-13, and NC-14, for all intents and purposes, a year ago when the maps were finalized.

NC-6 incumbent US Rep. Kathy Manning, a Democrat, declined to even defend the seat, as the voters in the new district supported Donald Trump in 2020 by 16 points. Addison McDowell, a former staffer for US Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina, won a contentious primary after being endorsed by Trump and declared victory Nov. 5, before much of the vote even came in.

NC-13 had a very similar story. The Democrat incumbent, US Rep. Wiley Nickel, also saw the writing on the wall, in a district redrawn with voters who favored Trump in 2020 by 18 points, and chose not to run again. Brad Knott, who emerged from a contentious primary after being endorsed by Trump, like McDowell, easily won.

NC-14 may have been the most painful for Democrats. The Charlotte-area district will go from having young social-media star US Rep. Jeff Jackson, who left the new GOP-dominant district to run for attorney general (a race which he won), to having current NC House Speaker Tim Moore as the new face of the district.

Two new, but familiar, faces

In addition to these three pickups, there are two well-known Republicans who will join the North Carolina Congressional Delegation.

Mark Harris, a pastor who had run for Congress twice before, will represent the new NC-8. The district mirrors the NC-9 that Harris had won in 2018, before voter fraud forced a special election that Harris chose not to run in. US Rep. Dan Bishop, then a state senator, ran and won the seat. With Bishop choosing to run for attorney general, it opened the seat Harris initially won. This time, there was much less drama, and Harris won in a blowout.

Pat Harrigan is another familiar face, after winning the GOP primary for NC-14 in 2022. The former Army Green Beret ended up losing to Jeff Jackson in the general. After winning another primary this year, he was able to win the seat vacated by US Rep. Patrick McHenry, widely known for his role as interim speaker during the GOP speaker controversy.

Four remaining Democrats

In the three Democrat-dominant districts, incumbent US Reps. Deborah Ross of NC-2, Valerie Foushee of NC-4, and Alma Adams of NC-12, easily won their urban districts in the Triangle and Charlotte areas. Incumbent US Rep. Don Davis also won in NC-1, but it was a much closer contest, at about 49% to 48%.

Democrats didn’t put much effort into running in the other districts, not even running candidates in NC-3 and NC-6, as they were so favorable for Republicans.

GOP House saviors?

If the GOP ends up hanging onto the US House by a handful of seats, North Carolina moving from a 7-7 state to a 10-4 state will certainly be a major part of the equation. Democrats have been calling, and will continue to call, foul over these districts and are unlikely to see the loss of these three seats as legitimate. But in the cutthroat game of politics, state Republicans used their ability to draw maps to their favor and were able to have a major impact on the balance of power in Washington.