RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Candidates are lining up to run in Congressional races across North Carolina as the public waits to see how Republicans will redraw the districts ahead of the 2024 election. 

Leaders in the General Assembly say they expect to take up the district maps for Congress and the state legislature in late September or early October.

North Carolina has 14 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, which are evenly split between Republicans and Democrats following a court-ordered redraw of those districts in 2022.  

David McLennan, an expert on state politics at Meredith College, says Republicans are poised to flip three to four of those seats based on how they redraw the districts this time. 

“The Republican advantage in the House is literally a handful of seats. North Carolina giving Republicans a little bit of a cushion with the redistricting could help,” he said. 

There are other states that will redraw their maps as well following litigation. In New York, political analysts say Democrats could redraw their districts in such a way as to offset gains Republicans make in North Carolina. 

“Depending on candidates and what the mood of the country is in November 2024, the idea that any cushion that Republicans get through a process North Carolina is going through could protect their advantage,” said McLennan. “This is very critical for both Democrats and Republicans, particularly for Republicans who are trying to fend off Democrats who are highly energized to try to take back the House.” 

State Rep. Erin Pare, the lone Republican representing Wake County in the General Assembly, announced her campaign for Congress this week, adding that she’s committing $400,000 of her own money to the race. In a video announcing her candidacy, she noted her work on some of the highest-profile bills the General Assembly passed this year, including placing new restrictions on abortion and banning transgender females from women’s sports, adding that she’s “everything the far-left fears most.”   

She lives in what’s currently the state’s 13th congressional district, which includes parts of Wake, Harnett and Wayne counties along with all of Johnston County. Republicans Josh McConkey, who’s a doctor, and Matt Shoemaker, who’s a former intelligence officer, have also announced their campaigns in the district. 

In 2022, it was the most competitive district in the state, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel defeated Republican Bo Hines.  

It remains unclear what that district will look like for the 2024 election until Republicans in the legislature reveal the new maps. 

“While I hear all this noise about maps, my focus is just doing the job,” Rep. Nickel said.  

U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat from Charlotte who was also elected to Congress for the first time last year, posted a video on social media earlier this month saying he expects Republicans to redraw the districts in order “to take me out.”  

“Just looking at the history of my state, when my party could draw the map, they cheated. Now, the other party can draw the map, and it’s the same thing,” said Jackson.

Republican Pat Harrigan, a Green Beret who ran against Jackson in 2022, announced earlier this week he’s running again and is committing $500,000 of his own money to the campaign.  

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) has long been expected to mount a campaign for Congress. He’s already announced he won’t seek the speakership again but is not confirming whether he will indeed run for a U.S. House seat in 2024.  

When asked last week if he’s made a decision about his future, he said, “I haven’t.”