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North Carolina has five new members of Congress as the new session started Friday. They were sworn in after Mike Johnson was reelected as Speaker.

North Carolina trial judges have dismissed a lawsuit challenging redrawn legislative and congressional district lines on the argument that they run afoul of an indirect constitutional right to "fair elections." The judges wrote this week that a recent affirmation by the state Supreme Court that redistricting policy decisions are left to the General Assembly still applies.

The majority on a three-judge federal appeals court panel sounds hesitant to reverse a trial judge's refusal last month to block the use of two new North Carolina state Senate districts that have been challenged on racial bias claims.

New redistricting lines for the state legislature will mean few swing districts in November’s general election — most districts strongly favor either Democrats or Republicans. In some of those districts, the action will be taking place in the March primary.

Five new members of Congress will likely be chosen in the Republican primary, since the districts make it nearly impossible for a Democrat to win in them in November.

The lawsuit in state court says current Congressional and state legislative maps endanger voters' constitutional right to free and fair elections.

A judge has refused to block the use of two North Carolina Senate districts drawn by Republican legislators starting with the 2024 elections and to order them replaced with different boundaries.

North Carolina voting-rights advocates have sued to overturn redistricting plans drawn by Republicans for the 2024 elections, saying legislative leaders unlawfully weakened the electoral influence of Black voters.

The map enacted in October puts Republicans in good shape to win at least 10 of the state’s 14 congressional seats next November. Democrats and Republicans each won seven seats under a map used in 2022, but GOP legislators were able to draw new lines this fall without judicial limits on partisan bias.

A lawsuit filed this week claims a newly drawn state Senate district map violates federal Voting Rights Act protections for Black voters.