GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — Former Congressman Mark Walker announced on Thursday that he has filed to run in North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District.

Walker, a Republican, previously served as the U.S. representative for North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District from 2015 to 2021. 

Also on Thursday, U.S. Rep. Kathy Manning (D-Greensboro) she will not run for re-election, at least not under the newly-approved Congressional maps favoring the Republican party.

Manning, who assumed office in then-District 6 in 2021 cited “flagrant gerrymandered” districts.

The Republican-led General Assembly approved new congressional maps for 2024 back in October, featuring significant changes both in and around the Raleigh-Durham area, Charlotte and the greater Greensboro area.

The new maps set the GOP up to potentially claim at least 10 of North Carolina’s 14 congressional seats.

“Republicans have blatantly rigged the map against Democrats by splitting the City of Greensboro into three pieces and combining each piece with far-flung rural counties, with the majority of Greensboro being drawn into a district that goes all the way to the border with Tennessee,” Manning said.

On Monday, North Carolina Black and Latino voters filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the new maps reduce the voting power of minorities in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Manning says, if the lawsuit is successful, she will run again.

“I would love nothing more than to continue representing our community in Congress,” Manning said. “Unfortunately, the egregiously gerrymandered maps do not make this race competitive, and I cannot in good conscience ask people to invest their time, resources and efforts in a campaign that is rigged against us. “