WASHINGTON

Republicans in the state house of North Carolina approved a new congressional map Wednesday intended to give the party an additional seat in the US House of Representatives.

The 66-48 vote came one day after Republicans in the state Senate backed the measure. It is set to take effect with Democratic Gov. Josh Stein unable to exercise his veto on congressional districting under state law.

The revised map largely reshapes North Carolina's 1st congressional district, which is predominantly Black and currently held by Democratic Representative Don Davis. Protesters who were chanting that the map is "racist" were escorted from the state House on Tuesday.

The move is the latest from Republicans as the party seeks to pad its electoral prospects in Congress ahead of next year's midterm elections. The party in power typically loses seats in the federal legislature during midterms.

US President Donald Trump has called on Republican-controlled states to redistrict to shore up his party's electoral prospects so that he can continue to advance his agenda in the second half of his four-year term. Typically, redistricting is done every 10 years following a census, making Trump's appeal exceedingly exceptional.

Trump's demand has sparked an arms race of sorts as Democratic-held states seek to counter the effort by enacting or proposing rival maps. California, in particular, sought to offset redistricting in Texas by putting a new map to voters that is slated to be taken up at the ballot box Nov. 4.

Democrats would need to win three seats to flip control of the House of Representatives, and present the most significant obstacle to Trump enacting his agenda.