On Nov. 8, North Carolina held their midterm elections. Earlier in the year, North Carolina had a court-ordered congressional district map drawn up to be used for the 2022 election. This, coupled with the increase of tech jobs in the state put pressure on North Carolina for the midterm elections. Additionally, this midterm election has been highly contentious on both sides. With 14 U.S. House of Representatives seats, one U.S. Senate seat, local judges and prosecutors, county sheriffs and commissioners, and many other state offices up for election, the results were highly anticipated.
In thirteen out of the fourteen districts in North Carolina, the incumbent parties held their positions. In the 1, 2, 3, 6, 12 and 14 Districts, Democrats held with Don Davis, Deborah K. Ross, Valerie Foushee, Kathy Manning, Alma Adamas and Jeff Jackson respectively. Democrats flipped in the thirteenth district with winner Wiley Nickel. In the third, fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh districts, Republicans held with Gregory Murphy, Virginia Foxx, David Rouzer, Dan Bishop, Richard Hudson, Patrick McHenry and Chuck Edwards respectively.
Incumbent and Republican Tedd Bud won the race for North Carolina Senate against major opponent Cheri Beasley. Overall in the Senate, Democrats flipped control through the reelection of Arizona and Nevada incumbents Mark Kelly and Catherine Cortez Masto. Additionally, Democrats flipped Pennsylvania with John Fetterman. The Georgia Senate race has gone to runoff with the elections being held Dec. 6. In this race will be Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, and Republican Herschel Walker.
Republicans have flipped the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since 2018. Currently, the seats are divided with 220 for Republicans and 213 for Democrats. Democrats lost nine seats while Republicans gained eight. The most competitive House of Representatives races were in New York and California.
As for the North Carolina State Senate, the Republican party has a majority with 28 members whereas the Democratic party has 22. In Districts 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 21, 24, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 37, 44, 45, 46, 47 and 50 Republican incumbents held onto their positions including Norman Sanderson, Jim Perry, Robert Hanig, Michael Lee, William Rabon and Brent Jackson to name few. In District 4, Republican candidate Eldon Sharpe Newton III beat Democratic incumbent Milton F. Fitch Jr. In Districts 14, 15, 17, 20, 22, 27, 28, 32, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 49 Democratic incumbents held onto their seats including Dan Blue, Jay Chaudhuri, Sydney Batch and Natalie Murdock. Democratic candidate Kandie Smith won in District 5.
In the North Carolina House of Representatives, the Republican party has also taken a majority. In District 1, 3, 4, 7, 12, 14-17, 19, 20, 22, 26, 28, 37, 43, 46, 51-53, 55, 59, 62, 64, 65, 67-69, 74-77, 79-82, 84, 85, 87, 89, 90-98, 108-111, 113 and 118-120 Republican incumbents won the election. Republican candidates Bill Ward, Ken Fontenot, Allen Chesser II, Frank Sossamon and others beat Democratic incumbents in Districts 5, 24, 25, 32 and more. Democratic incumbents held in Districts 2, 5, 11, 18, 23, 27, 29-31, 33-36, 38-42, 44, 45, 48, 49, 54, 56-58, 60, 61, 72, 88, 92, 99-102, 104-107,112, and 114-116.
In Raleigh, North Carolina, many offices were up for reelection due to delays caused by redistricting. For the Raleigh City Council At-Large, nonpartisan incumbents Stormie Forte and Jonathan Melton were reelected. For Raleigh City District A nonpartisan candidate Mary Black-Branch won. In District B, nonpartisan candidate Megan Patton won. Nonpartisan incumbent Corey Branch won the District C Raleigh City Council election. Nonpartisan candidate Jane Harrison won the District D Raleigh City Council elections with nearly 56% of the vote. Lastly, nonpartisan candidate Christina Jones beat out incumbent David Knight in District E.
Now that midterm elections are out of the way, politicians are gearing up for primary elections in 2024. Be sure to stay up to date with upcoming elections and candidates.
