(The Center Square) – With less than a week remaining to register to vote for the 2026 midterm primaries in North Carolina, Democrats have lost 7% of their registrations since the 2022 midterm primaries in a net swing with Republicans of more than 300,000.
The unaffiliated bloc has grown its collection of independents 19.1% and Republicans have increased 5.8% since May 17, 2022, according to Saturday’s release by the State Board of Education and analysis by TCS.
Of the 436,730 registrations (up 6%) added, independents have gained 110.6% of that total (483,160), Republicans 29.1% (127,068) and Democrats contribute minus-40.2% by having lost 175,766 registrations.
Early mail-in voting started Jan. 12; voter registration deadline is Friday; and in-person early voting starts Feb. 12. The primary is March 3.
In the past week, voter rolls rose 4,423 overall. The unaffiliated bloc went up 4,423 (106%) in that time, Republicans 223 (5.3%) and Democrats lost 506 (minus-12.1%).
Overall, the nation’s ninth largest state has 7,710,757 voter registrations as of Saturday. They are split 39.1% unaffiliated (more than 3 million), 30.2% Republicans (more than 2.3 million) and 30.1% Democrats (more than 2.3 million).
Inside the numbers and the lead-up to the primary is the quest by a candidate near Kerr Lake on the border of Virginia to get voters to renounce their Democratic registration in favor of going unaffiliated. State law allows those unaffiliated to vote in the primary by choice of ballot for a party that is officially recognized.
Pamela Ayscue was a Democrat last summer, switched to Republican in time to file as one for the District 32 seat in the state House of Representatives, and on Jan. 10 asked for support through voter registration change.
Ayscue is running against former Rep. Frank Sossamon in the Republican primary. Sossamon was unseated in 2024 when Rep. Bryan Cohn, a Democrat, flipped the seat. He’s not running this year; the Democratic primary pits Melissa Elliott against Curtis McRae.
District 32 includes Granville County and the northern part of Vance County inclusive of Henderson, where Ayscue, Sossamon and Elliott reside. McRae is in Oxford.
In Granville County, since Ayscue made her request, total registrations are up 313 – 218 unaffiliated, 92 Republicans, and a loss of one Democrat. In Vance County (not all would be District 32), there is net gain of 16 registrations – 36 unaffiliated, and losses of 13 Democrats and seven Republicans.
Ayscue is part of a broader coalition of six educators formerly registered as Democrats as recently as last summer trying to win Republican primaries on March 3. The others are Michele Joyner-Dinwiddie trying to win House District 35, Pamela Zanni HD81, Lisa Deaton Koperski HD89, Kelly VanHorn HD105 and Dr. Christopher Wilson HD117.
