Twenty state legislators will likely win another term after no one filed to run against them in the 2026 election. All but one of the lawmakers running unopposed for re-election are Democrats who represent left-leaning districts.
In the Triangle, they include Reps. Vernetta Alston and Zack Hawkins of Durham, Sarah Crawford of Raleigh, Ray Jeffers of Roxboro, and Senator Natalie Murdock of Durham.
The list also includes Reps. Mike Colvin of Fayetteville, Tracy Clark of Greensboro, Pricey Harrison of Greensboro, Kanika Brown of Winston-Salem, Brian Turner of Asheville, and Sens. Michael Garrett of Greensboro and Gladys Robinson of Greensboro.
The largest concentration of uncontested legislative races is in Mecklenburg County, where Reps. Terry Brown, Julia Greenfield, Carolyn Logan, Laura Budd, Aisha Dew and Jordan Lopez, and Sens. Mujtaba Mohammed and DeAndrea Salvador are all running unopposed.
Conservative commentator Andrew Dunn downplayed the impact of so many districts without Republican candidates. "You don’t get a prize for fielding candidates," he said on the social media site X. "I'm glad that there aren't Republicans running in some of these districts where they have no chance. Keeps focus and $$ where they are more valuable."
Only one Republican is running without any opposition in the primary or general election. No one filed to run against Rep. Wyatt Gable of Jacksonville, but a spokesperson for House Democrats says the party has recruited an unaffiliated candidate who will petition for ballot access in that race.
House Democrats boasted in a news release that they have candidates in all 120 districts. The news release said that it "reflects a renewed commitment from communities across North Carolina to contest every seat and offer voters real choices."
But two of the 120 are unaffiliated candidates who haven't yet qualified to appear on the ballot. They'll need to collect more than 2,000 signatures first. The unaffiliated candidates are Asjiah West, who is challenging Gable, and Leah Knox, who is seeking the seat held by Rep. Keith Kidwell, R-Beaufort.
"These candidates have until noon on primary election day to get signatures from 4% of the total number of registered voters in their district, as required by law," House Democratic Caucus spokesperson Sam Lozier said in an email. "We have a plan in place to ensure that this requirement is fulfilled."
All 14 of the state's Congressional districts have candidates from both parties, and that's also true for all statewide judicial races. And while both former Gov. Roy Cooper and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley are favored to be their party's nominees for U.S. Senate, both must first defeat multiple primary opponents on their party's ballot in March.
Early voting schedules approved for primary
With the list of candidates now final, the State Board of Elections voted Monday to approve early voting schedules for the March primary in all but 13 counties.
The 87 county early voting schedules had previously been approved unanimously by local election boards, with support from both Democrats and Republicans.
An analysis by the advocacy group Common Cause found that 24 of those counties are providing fewer early voting hours or locations than they did during the 2022 midterm primary. About 19 of the counties are reducing weekend voting hours, and Lenoir County is eliminating three early voting sites and Sunday hours.
"It's encouraging that members of election boards can work in a bipartisan manner to create their plans,” Common Cause executive director Bob Phillips said in a news release Monday. “However, we are concerned that in too many cases, voters are losing opportunities they had four years ago. Early voting is by far the most popular way people vote in North Carolina, so cutting sites or hours can reduce overall turnout or disadvantage one segment of voters versus another."
Wake and Mecklenburg counties, however, are expanding early voting with more locations than they offered four years ago. Wake County will have 12 early voting sites, up from eight in 2022.
State Board of Elections members like Chairman Francis De Luca voiced support for the schedules. "I think the key word here is unanimous," he said, during Monday's meeting.
Thirteen county election boards disagreed on early voting plans, including Guilford, Cumberland, Pitt, and Brunswick — meaning the state board will decide on their schedules during a meeting next month.
In many of those, Republicans and Democrats on the boards were at odds over allowing Sunday voting, which some in the GOP have sought to eliminate for years. Sundays are a popular day for Black churches to hold "Souls to the Polls" events following services.
In Guilford, the controversy is over whether to open early voting sites on campus at N.C. A&T State University and UNC-Greensboro.
The early voting period will run from Feb. 12-28 ahead of the March 3 primary.
