(The Center Square) – Primaries in North Carolina are on tap for eight incumbents to the U.S. House of Representatives, both major parties in the bid for the U.S. Senate, and 38 of 160 incumbents seeking reelection to the General Assembly.
More than 6,000 filed during the three weeks ending Friday for local, state or national level races.
Registered voters in the state this cycle will choose a U.S. senator, all 14 U.S. House representatives, one state Supreme Court judge and three appellate justices. All 170 seats in the General Assembly – 50 in the Senate, 120 in the House of Representatives – are also on the ballot. There are no statewide referenda.
Only presidential cycle years have longer ballots for the more than 7.6 million voters in the nation’s ninth largest state.
Republican Laurie Buckhout, retired Army colonel and runner-up to incumbent Democratic Rep. Don Davis, will challenge him again in the 1st Congressional District. Hers was arguably the most consequential filing on Friday’s final day, and she’ll have to fight through a five-candidate primary.
Sharing impact in that race with a decision not to file was fellow Republican Sandy Smith. She said she’ll stay in a senior advisor role for the Trump administration.
Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck, Lenoir County Commissioner Eric Rouse, Atlantic Beach lawyer and small business owner Ashley-Nicole Russell and Currituck County state Sen. Bobby Hanig are also in the Republican primary. Davis’ quest for a third term will not require a primary.
Libertarian Tom Bailey of Greensboro, more than an hour’s drive from the western edge of the district, also will be on the November ballot.
No rule requires candidates to live in U.S. House districts. Davis says he’ll move within the new boundaries if victorious; he’s in the Greene County seat of Snow Hill.
Davis is joined by three fellow Democratic incumbents in the House filing for reelection. Raleigh’s Deborah Ross in the 2nd will also not have a primary foe. In the 4th, Rep. Valerie Foushee of Hillsborough is challenged by Durham’s Mary Patterson and Durham’s Nida Allam; in the 12th, Rep. Alma Adams of Charlotte is challenged by Pleasant Garden’s Monaca Maye Williamson.
For Republican incumbents filed for reelection, there is no primary for Reps. Dr. Greg Murphy in the 3rd, Addison McDowell in the 6th, Rev. Mark Harris in the 8th and Richard Hudson in the 9th.
Republican incumbents facing primaries are Reps. Virginia Foxx of Banner Elk in the 5th by Steve Girard of Jefferson, Chad Williams II of Greensboro and Joey Osborne of Banner Elk; David Rouzer of Wilmington in the 7th by David Buzzard of Wilmington; Pat Harrigan of Hickory in the 10th by Matthew Sin of Winston-Salem; Chuck Edwards of Flat Rock in the 11th by Adam Smith of Black Mountain; Brad Knott of Raleigh in the 13th by Sid Shama of Raleigh; and Tim Moore of Kings Mountain in the 14th by Kate Barr of Davidson.
In the U.S. Senate race, former two-term Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has polled early as the favorite and closed the Sept. 30 campaign finance period with $8.5 million on hand, according to Federal Election Commission records. He’ll be in a primary with Rocky Mount’s Robert Colon, Concord’s Justin Dean, High Point’s Orrick Quick, Lumberton’s Marcus Williams and Jacksonville’s Daryl Farrow.
The Republican primary will include Gastonia’s Michael Whatley, Cary’s Michele Morrow, Durham’s Richard Dansie, Garner’s Thomas Johnson, Charlotte’s Margot Dupre, Waxhaw’s Don Brown, and Smithfield’s Elizabeth Temple (filed Dec. 1).
Libertarian Shannon Bray of Angier will await respective Super Tuesday survivors on Nov. 3.
One senator and nine members of the House are not seeking reelection. Among them are Rep. Sarah Stevens, R-Surry, choosing to challenge incumbent Anita Earls for Seat 1 on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Sen Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, is in the geographically reshaped 1st Congressional District race.
Others were Republican Reps. Matthew Winslow of Franklin County, Ted Davis Jr. of New Hanover County, William Brisson of Bladen County, John Sauls of Lee County, Mark Brody of Union County, Stephen Ross of Alamance County and Harry Warren of Rowan County; and Democratic Rep. Bryan Cohn of Granville County.
The state Supreme Court race between Earls and Stevens is pivotal to shape the 2028 ballot. Republicans are in five of seven seats, and the ballot in two years will have the chief justice seat and seats 2 and 4. Occupying those spots, respectively, are Republicans Paul Newby, Phil Berger Jr. and Tamara Barringer.
This means if Stevens prevails, Democrats would need to sweep 2028 to gain a 4-3 majority. Justice Allison Riggs, winner 184 days after Election Day in 2024, is the other Democrat on the bench. All terms are eight years.
For General Assembly incumbents seeking reelection, 22 of 63 Republicans and eight of 48 Democrats have primaries in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, six of 29 Republicans and two of 20 Democrats have primaries.
Six primaries – five Republican, one Democrat – are scheduled for races involving one seat in the Senate and five in the House.
