Barring any last-minute legal snafus, North Carolina is a week away from the official start of the 2026 elections — the candidate filing period.
From Dec. 1 to Dec. 19, candidates running for a spot in Congress, the state legislature, courts and various local offices must file documentation with election boards in order to appear on the ballot.
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Here’s what you need to know.
Why is candidate filing so early?
The 2025 municipal elections are barely in the rearview mirror, so it may seem a bit premature to already be talking about the 2026 elections. But election administration is a year-long process, and it takes a good deal of work to prepare.
Absentee voting for the 2026 primary election begins Jan. 12. Before then, elections administrators have to provide time for any candidate challenges, publish election notices in local newspapers and prepare absentee ballots with the correct candidate names.
Who is eligible to run?
Candidate filing requirements differ across contests, but generally anyone running for office has to be a registered North Carolina voter and at least 21 years old by the general election.
In most races, candidates have to live in the district they seek to represent. One exception to that is the U.S. House, where prospective candidates can technically live anywhere in the state.
That may prove relevant in 2026, as Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis must decide whether to run for office in the First District, where he currently serves, or the Third District, where he now technically lives after state Republicans drew him out of his district.
Some offices have additional requirements. Judicial and district attorney candidates must be authorized to practice law in North Carolina. U.S. Senate candidates must be at least 30 and have been a U.S. citizen for at least nine years, while U.S. House candidates must be at least 25 and have been a citizen for seven years.
Local and county races have their own individualized criteria that potential candidates should check before filing.
Former convicted felons may run for office if their rights of citizenship have been restored, with the exception of sheriff elections.
Current felons may not seek elected office unless it’s a federal office, such as the U.S. House or Senate.
How does candidate filing work?
Running for office takes a fair bit of organization. At candidate filing, prospective office seekers need to first fill out a Notice of Candidacy.
Candidates must list:
- Which office they’re running for;
- How they want their name to appear on the ballot;
- Their campaign phone number and email address;
- Their residential address; and
- Whether they’ve been convicted of a felony (if so, they must fill out a document providing more details).
In partisan contests, candidates sign a pledge choosing which primary election they want to be a part of and affirming that they have been registered with that party for at least three months. They must also promise not to run as a write-in candidate in the general election if they lose the primary.
Various parts of the documentation need to be notarized. Before candidates are officially in the race, the county elections director or the chairman or secretary of the State Board of Elections must observe the candidate signing the notice of candidacy.
Candidates running for national offices, state offices, superior court judge, district court judge or district attorney file their notices of candidacy with the State Board of Elections. Candidates running for the state legislature and other county and local offices file them with their county board of elections.
This happens in person at predetermined locations.
Candidates pay to run. The price depends on the office, but generally amounts to 1% of the office’s base salary. For example, candidates for U.S. House will pay $1,740 in filing fees, while state legislative candidates have to cough up $139.51.
Since candidates have to meet regular campaign finance reporting requirements, they also must set up a candidate committee and list a treasurer who lives in North Carolina. These treasurers will oversee the tracking of campaign contributions and spending throughout the election cycle.
Candidates may act as their own treasurers. All treasurers have to attend a State Board of Elections training within three months of their appointment. However, treasurers for federal committees don’t have to complete training.
Can candidates use nicknames on the ballot?
No, you can’t go by George (Da Bomb) Smith on the ballot, sorry. The State Board of Elections has a laundry list of name rules candidates must abide by to ensure elections are conducted professionally and fairly.
Naturally, candidates may use their given first and last name on the ballot with no issues. But they may also use a nickname, provided they can attest they’ve gone by that nickname for at least five years, and the elections board decides the nickname does not “mislead voters or unduly advertise the candidacy.”
Candidates may use their middle names as their first name on the ballot without taking extra steps. However, they may not shorten their names — from David to Dave, for example — without a nickname affidavit.
No fancy titles allowed, like Dr., Hon. General or Judge. The only titles allowed are Mr., Mrs., Miss and Ms., and the only suffixes permitted are those indicating familial succession (Jr. or III, e.g.).
If they like, candidates may abbreviate using the first letter of their first and/or middle names, but last names cannot be shortened.
Hyphenated last names are OK, as long as that’s how the candidate’s name is listed on their voter registration records.
What’s next in the process?
After candidate filing, North Carolinians eligible to vote in the candidate’s race have 10 business days to challenge that candidate’s eligibility. This cycle, that’s Jan. 8, 2026.
By mid-January, counties have to publish election notices in local newspapers. Absentee voting begins Jan. 12 for the March 3 primary election.
Looking a bit further ahead, the first campaign finance deadline is Jan. 30, 2026. That will include contributions and expenditures through the end of 2025.
Feb. 6 is the voter registration deadline for the primary, as well as the last day to challenge the eligibility of specific voters to cast a ballot. Early voting will be Feb. 12-28.
How do candidate challenges work?
Every year, at least a few candidate challenges reach the State Board of Elections. Typically, they involve whether a candidate actually lives in the district they seek to represent, but they can also revolve around any other eligibility requirement.
Challengers must submit a verified affidavit based on “reasonable suspicion or belief” that the candidate does not meet the qualifications for office. Any eligible voter who lives in the district may challenge a candidate, but filling out a fraudulent challenge is a Class I felony.
Which state and federal offices are up for election in '26?
The midterms are set to be a busy cycle for North Carolinians.
Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis is not running for reelection, and the race for his replacement is already off to an expensive start. North Carolina’s 14 U.S. House seats are also on the ballot, with all incumbents announcing their intentions to run for reelection.
Each of North Carolina’s 120 state House and 50 state Senate seats are up for grabs.
Over in the judicial branch, Democratic State Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls will attempt to keep her seat against her Republican challenger, State Rep. Sarah Stevens. Three of the North Carolina Court of Appeals’ 15 seats are up for reelection.
Additionally, 29 superior court judge races, 125 district court races and 39 district attorney races are scheduled.
What about local elections?
Counties, school districts and many municipalities across North Carolina will have their own elections in 2026. That includes elections for school board, sheriff, county commissions, mayors, city councils and more. While there will be soil and water conservation district elections next year, the candidate filing period for those seats isn’t until June.
The best way to find out what specific elections are happening in your county is to visit your county board of elections website. In time, the State Board of Elections will also update the Voter Search tool with personalized sample ballots.
Will election litigation delay candidate filing period?
It’s possible. A federal district court is currently deciding whether to allow the 2025 congressional map to be used for the 2026 elections, while a broader lawsuit progresses.
The panel of judges appeared skeptical of arguments against the map, so it’s likely that the 2025 map will stand, at least for now. If judges don’t rule before Dec. 1, they could postpone the start of the filing period until the issue is resolved.
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
