After a lengthy and hard fought campaign, voters have chosen new leaders for our nation and state. Former President Donald Trump won North Carolina as part of his national victory and both Democrats and Republicans won significant state offices.
What happened on November 5?
The State Board of Elections reports that 73% of registered voters (5.67M) cast ballots. Voters set a new record during the early voting period by casting about 4.5M ballots (4.2M in person early votes plus over 266,000 absentee ballots) with over 1.1M votes cast on election day.
Note: Results are unofficial at this point. Under State law, the final certification of results (also called a canvass) will occur later this month. County boards of elections are scheduled to hold their canvass meetings on Nov. 15 and the State Board of Elections is scheduled to meet on Nov. 26 to certify the election. Court challenges and recounts could impact this timeline.
President
Former President Trump (R) bested Vice President Harris (D) by 51 percent to 48 percent, a margin of about 192,000 votes. This is an increase from his 2020 margin in the state, which was about 74,000 votes.
Congress—U.S. House
As a result of the election, the party breakdown of North Carolina’s U.S. House delegation will now be 10 Republicans and 4 Democrats. The split is currently 7 to 7 but due in large part to new district lines, Republicans gained a net of 3 seats.
Incumbents reelected
- Don Davis (D-1st)—appears to have held his seat by about 6,000 votes
- Deborah Ross (D-2nd)
- Greg Murphy (R-3rd)
- Valerie Foushee (D-4th)
- Virginia Foxx (R-5th)
- David Rouzer (R-7th)
- Richard Hudson (R-9th)
- Chuck Edwards (R-11th)
- Alma Adams (D-12th)
New Members
- Addison McDowell (R-6th)—Former congressional aide and lobbyist
- Mark Harris (R-8th)—Minister
- Pat Harrigan (R-10th)—Army veteran and defense products manufacturer
- Brad Knott (R-13th)—Former prosecutor
- Tim Moore (R-14th)—Speaker of the NC House
Statewide Elected Officials
Voters on Tuesday chose 10 statewide officials for Council of State offices, seven of them new members. Both parties will now have 5 of these seats.
- Governor—New member
Attorney General Josh Stein (D-Wake) defeated Lt. Governor Mark Robinson (R-Guilford) by 55% to 40%, a margin of over 811,000 votes. This was the most lopsided Governor’s contest since 2004. Democrats have now won 8 of the last 9 gubernatorial elections.
- Lieutenant Governor—New member
State Senator Rachel Hunt (D-Mecklenburg County) defeated Hal Weatherman (R-Wake) by 49% to 48%.
- Commissioner of Agriculture—Incumbent reelected
Longtime Commissioner Steve Troxler (R-Guilford), who was first elected in 2004, won reelection against Sarah Taber (D-Cumberland) by 53% to 45%.
- Attorney General—New member
U.S. House member Jeff Jackson (D-Mecklenburg) defeated U.S. House member Dan Bishop (R-Mecklenburg) by 51% to 49%.
- State Auditor—New member
Fayetteville lawyer Dave Boliek (R-Cumberland) defeated Incumbent Jessica Holmes (D-Wake) by 49.4% to 47.5%.
- Commissioner of Insurance—Incumbent reelected
Incumbent Mike Causey (R-Guilford), who was first elected in 2016, defeated State Senator Natasha Marcus (D-Mecklenburg) by 52% to 48%.
- Commissioner of Labor—New member
Attorney Luke Farley (R-Wake) defeated Charlotte City Councilman Braxton Winston (D-Mecklenburg) by 53% to 47%.
- Secretary of State—Incumbent reelected
Incumbent Elaine Marshall (D-Wake), who was first elected in 1996, defeated Chad Brown (R-Gaston) by 51% to 49%.
- Superintendent of Public Instruction—New member
Former Guilford County Superintendent Mo Green (D-Guilford) defeated home schooling advocate Michelle Morrow (R-Wake) by 51% to 49%.
- State Treasurer—New member
Investment Advisor Brad Briner (R-Orange) defeated State Representative Wesley Harris (D-Mecklenburg) by 53% to 47%.
General Assembly
As expected, Republicans retained their majorities in both houses. They have controlled both chambers of the General Assembly since January 2011.
It appears the Republicans retained their Senate “supermajority” to override the Governor’s vetoes (60% of those present and voting is necessary to override a veto). They appear to have a new 31 to 18 majority with one race too close to call in District 42 (Mecklenburg County) where Democrat Woodson Bradley leads Republican Stacie McGinn by 27 votes out of about 123,000 cast.
The House supermajority depends on some close races. Republicans appear to have won at least 70 seats (they need 72 for a supermajority). Two races are very close with Democrat Bryan Cohn leading Republican Incumbent Frank Sossaman by 172 votes in district 32 (Granville and Vance counties) and Republican Incumbent Tricia Cotham leading Democrat Nicole Sidman by 275 votes in district 105 (Mecklenburg County).
Judiciary
Judge Jefferson Griffin (R-Carteret) appears to have defeated Incumbent Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs (D-Orange) by about 10,000 votes. Republicans won the three contested Court of Appeals seats.
For more information, contact a member of the Brooks Pierce Government Affairs Team.
Ed Turlington, Partner
Drew Moretz, Government Relations Advisor
Katelyn Kingsbury, Government Relations Advisor