The 2026 election field is set in North Carolina. Over the past three weeks, thousands of North Carolinians have filed to run for office, including in the US House of Representatives and Senate, state legislature, state courts and many local offices.
Many of those contests will conduct a primary election in March to determine each party’s general election nominees. Nearly half of state legislative races and all but two congressional races involve at least one primary contest.
In some of these cases, the primary will decide the winner. In six state legislative races, only Democrats filed to run, and in 11, only Republicans did.
In others, the primary is little more than a formality before the main event — the general election cycle.
Filed for US Senate
One of those cases is the US Senate race, where former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and former Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley both face multiple filed primary challengers, but are likely to sail through.
Political experts expect the election to break spending records — some estimates put it at a billion dollars. According to the most recent campaign finance filings, Cooper’s campaign and associated committees have raised $14.5 million, while Whatley has raised $5.8 million.
Thanks to a 2010 Supreme Court decision, Citizens United, outside groups and corporations can spend unlimited amounts on elections, as long as they don’t directly coordinate with candidates. That will likely make up the lion's share of money spent during the election.
Instead of going at their filed primary opponents, Cooper and Whatley are already trading jabs at each other.
Whatley supporters have criticized commutations Cooper made during his time as governor, as well as spending on a “high-end chauffeur service” and a campaign vehicle. However, FEC reports also show Whatley spent thousands on a luxury car service and private aircraft, according to Politico.
On the other hand, Cooper supporters say Whatley failed at his Trump-appointed job as “recovery czar” after Tropical Storm Helene. Whatley was supposed to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency address the damage, but some Western North Carolinians feel he hasn’t shown up.
Cooper will face Democrats Robert Colon, Justin Dues, Daryl Farrow, Orrick Quick and Marcus Williams in March.
Whatley will face Elizabeth Temple, Margot Dupre, Thomas Johnson and Michelle Morrow. Morrow narrowly lost her bid for superintendent of public instruction to Democrat Mo Green last year in a controversial campaign. Trump endorsed Whatley early, and will host a campaign event with him Friday night in Rocky Mount.
Filed for US House of Representatives
North Carolina’s 14 congressional representatives are all running for reelection next year. Eight have primary challengers.
There are several crowded primaries. One is in the First Congressional District, where Republicans are vying to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis in the general election. In North Carolina’s recent mid-decade redistricting, the First Congressional District became more Republican. That gives Republicans a much better shot at victory in a district that was already becoming redder.
State Sen. Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, said he decided to run before the redraw. He’s an America First Republican in line with President Donald Trump. He said his “proven leadership” and dedication to showing up and listening to constituents sets him apart from the crowd.
“Already I serve 10 counties,” he said. “It takes about three-and-a-half hours to get from end to end. What’s another 20 miles in any direction?”
On the final day of filing,Republican Laurie Buckhout threw her hat in the ring. Buckhout narrowly lost to Davis in 2024 by less than two percentage points. While she prefers to look forward, she told Carolina Public Press when she filed that she thought she would have won that race under the current, redrawn map.
Buckhout is a combat veteran and former business owner, and said she has the most experience of the primary candidates. Earlier this year, she served as acting assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy under the Trump administration, which she called “inspiring.”
If elected, her priorities include building jobs, getting fentanyl off the streets and bringing back economic prosperity, she said.
Republicans Asa Buck, Ashley Nicole Russell and Eric Rouse have also filed to run for the Republican nomination.
The Third Congressional District was also impacted by the redraw, in the opposite direction. It became less Republican, although it still boasts about a 55% Republican vote share. Democrats Allison Jaslow and Raymond Smith will compete in March to take on incumbent Republican US Rep. Greg Murphy in November.
While the other US House seats are relatively safe for their respective parties, some Democrats are optimistic about taking the 11th District from Republican US Rep.Chuck Edwards if there’s a blue wave. Edwards will face one filed primary opponent, Adam Smith, while five Democrats are fighting for the Democratic nomination — Jamie Ager, Paul Maddox, Richard Hudspeth, Lee Whipple and Zelda Briarwood.
Finally, in the 14th Congressional District, Republican US Rep. Tim Moore faces a surprising primary candidate from none other than Kate Barr, who knowingly ran a losing campaign for state senate in 2024 to make a point. Barr is a Democrat, although her registration may state differently while the election progresses.
She’s using the race to speak out against political redistricting, which makes races like hers extremely uncompetitive. Since a Democrat stands no chance at winning in the solidly Republican district, she decided to run as a Republican.
“I’m running in the only way that makes sense within the jacked up system that power-hungry politicians have built,” she said in a statement. “If they want to get mad about it — they should start by yelling at the men in the mirror.”
State House of Representatives filings
State Democrats are looking to not only maintain their ground in the state house, where they have just enough seats to block a Republican supermajority, but to gain momentum.
Part of that mission involves challenging Democrats who don’t always toe the party line, and vote with Republicans on occasion to override the governor’s vetoes. That includes Reps. Carla Cunningham, D-Mecklenburg, Nasif Majeed, D-Mecklenburg, and Shelly Willingham, D-Edgecombe. Each has at least one primary opponent in 2026.
A previously ousted swing Democrat is back for a rematch. Former Rep. Michael Wray will face Rep. Rodney Pierce, D-Halifax, to try and get his seat back. Wray has encouraged Republicans to change their registrations to support him in his bid, while Pierce secured Stein’s endorsement
Another part of Democrats’ goal is flipping Republican seats. Five races could be considered toss ups, according to data from the Civitas Partisan Index and Dave’s Redistricting. Those are held by Reps. Allen Chesser, R-Nash, Mike Schietzelt, R-Wake, Erin Paré, R-Wake, Jonathan Almond, R-Cabarrus, and Tricia Cotham, R-Mecklenburg.
Democrats currently hold 49 of 120 seats. To earn a majority, they would have to maintain their current seats, win the five toss-ups, and find seven additional seats. If there’s a blue wave, it’s possible for Democrats to win four additional Republican leaning districts, held by Reps. Timothy Reeder, R-Pitt, Donna White, R-Johnston, Alan Branson, R-Guilford, and Mike Clampitt, R-Swain.
Beyond that, there are three likely Republican seats that are less likely to flip, but could be targets for optimistic Democrats. They are held by Joseph Pike, R-Harnett, Jennifer Balkcom, R-Henderson, and Mark Pless, R-Haywood.
There are nine open seats in the state House, where incumbents aren’t running. They include District 90, where incumbent Rep. Sarah Stevens, R-Surry, is leaving the legislature to run for state Supreme Court.
State Senate contests
On the other side of the legislative building, everyone wants to stay. All but one incumbent has filed for reelection. Four Republicans filed for Hanig’s open seat, making for a competitive primary.
District 26 may be the most high-profile legislative race. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, one of the most powerful politicians in the state, will face Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page in March. Berger secured Trump’s endorsement, but Page is well-known in the district. Berger hasn’t had a primary challenger since 2012.
Republicans have a 30-20 supermajority in the Senate, which allows them to override the governor’s vetoes without Democratic support. Democrats may be looking to break that supermajority this cycle.
To do so, they have a fairly narrow runway. There are a pair of “toss-up” races in districts held by Republicans — District 7, held by State Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, and District 11, held by State. Sen. Lisa Barnes, R-Nash. Democrats would need to win those hold onto a third toss-up in District 18, held by Wake County Democrat Terence Everitt.
Other races
There are hundreds of other races, including statewide contests for the courts, and local races for sheriffs and boards of commissioners, plus some school boards, mayors and city councils.
One of the most significant is the race for a seat on the state Supreme Court, which is currently a 5-2 Republican split. Democratic Judge and incumbent Anita Earls is up for reelection. Democrats have stressed that reelecting Earls is critical to flipping the state’s highest court before the next redistricting cycle. State Rep. Sarah Stevens, R-Surry who drives much of the legislature’s election policy, has filed to run against her.
Three Democratic Court of Appeals judges are also up for reelection. They make up a superminority on the 15-person court.
Now that candidates have filed, the 2026 election is officially on.
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
