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RALEIGH – New legislative maps for state House and Senate districts along with new boundaries for Congressional districts have been approved and will have an impact on the Roanoke-Chowan area.

The maps were approved in the NC House and NC Senate on Thursday with votes mainly along party lines. Lawsuits challenging the new districts have already been filed.

The NC Senate map reshapes Districts 1, 2, and 3 in eastern North Carolina.

District 1 currently consists of Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington counties. It is represented by Senator Bob Steinburg, a Republican from Edenton.

The new Senate District 1 maintains Camden, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Tyrrell counties. It adds Northampton and Bertie counties, currently in District 3 represented by Senator Ernestine Bazemore of Aulander. That District also currently includes Beaufort, Martin, Vance, and Warren counties.

The newly configured District 2 includes Carteret, Chowan, Halifax, Hyde, Martin, Pamlico, Warren, and Washington counties.

The new boundaries for NC House districts also contain changes for local counties.

District 5, represented by Howard Hunter III, a Democrat from Ahoskie, will maintain its current three counties – Hertford, Gates, and Pasquotank – and add Camden County.

The newly adopted map moves Bertie County to a district that currently includes Edgecombe and Martin counties, represented by Shelly Willingham, a Democrat from Rocky Mount. Bertie is currently in a House district that includes Camden, Chowan, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington counties, represented by Ed Goodwin, a Republican from Edenton.

The redistricting adds Warren County to District 27 that currently encompasses Northampton and Halifax counties, which is represented by Michael Wray, a Democrat from Gaston.

The State Senate and House also approved a new map for Congressional districts. That map moves Bertie, Hertford, and Northampton counties to District 2, leaving Gates in District 1.

The NC General Assembly must reconstruct legislative district maps every 10 years, corresponding with the release on U.S. census data. The 2020 census showed the state’s population grew by more than 888,000 residents, resulting in the addition of a 14^th Congressional District.