Overview

• U.S. District Judge James Dever ruled that two contested northeastern Senate districts comply with the law, leaving the 2023 map in place after a February trial.
• In a 126-page opinion, the court said plaintiffs Moses Matthews and state Rep. Rodney Pierce lacked standing to challenge one district because neither lives there.
• Dever found insufficient evidence of race-based vote dilution under Section 2, citing extensive crossover voting and recent electoral success by Black-preferred candidates.
• The ruling noted Republican mapmakers did not use racial data during drafting and concluded racially polarized voting was not legally significant in the areas at issue.
• The decision preserves Republicans’ 30–20 Senate supermajority and could face review by the 4th U.S. Circuit, with related redistricting challenges still pending before a three-judge panel.