Turns out not even a majority of North Carolina Republicans are rooting for the heavily gerrymandered state electoral maps as a legal battle over their constitutionality gets underway, a recent poll finds.

The poll, released Tuesday by Progress NC Action, showed most North Carolina voters believe gerrymandering is a serious problem and support court efforts to ensure a fair election. The maps in question—both U.S. House and statehouse district maps—were given an “F” rating on partisan fairness by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project. The maps could give Republicans an 11-3 congressional majority, boosting the GOP’s chances of recapturing the House nationwide. The legislative maps could help the party score a supermajority in the state legislature.

This week’s legal rollercoaster began Monday when a three-judge panel from the North Carolina Court of Appeals placed an injunction on candidate filling for the March primary, barring court review of the maps. The 15-member court, which has a Republican majority, later came back and reversed the decision, however. Governor Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein have asked the left-leaning state Supreme Court to take up the matter. 

According to the poll, 74 percent of folks who responded to the survey said they support efforts by the courts to guarantee fair and constitutional district maps. What’s more interesting is that support included 66 percent of Republicans.

The survey also found that 72 percent of folks believe the state should be “aggressive” in limiting gerrymandering, which was supported by 67 percent of Republicans.

Other than state House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger, is anyone actually championing these maps? Because it doesn’t look like even Republican voters believe they’re fair. 

And a decent number of Republicans seemed to have responded to the poll, as only 45 percent of folks said they approved of Cooper’s job performance, and 50 percent expressed disapproval of President Joe Biden’s performance. 

See the full results of the poll here.


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Follow Senior Staff Writer Leigh Tauss on Twitter or send an email to ltauss@indyweek.com.