Democrats appear to win the NC House majority and gain seats in the Senate

In a huge upset Tuesday night, Democrats appeared to win the majority in the North Carolina House, with Democratic candidates scoring stunning victories in districts held by influential, veteran Republicans. Democrats have not controlled a chamber of the General Assembly since 2010, when Republicans won majorities in both the House and Senate. 

At the Democrats’ victory party Tuesday night, Rep. Robert Reives of Chatham, who is the House Democrat leader, was introduced as the next House Speaker. 

“We have the power to make this state better,” he told the jubilant crowd. . 

All returns are unofficial until county boards of election certify the results. 

In one of the biggest upsets of the night, Democrat Jen Wiles defeated seven-term GOP Rep. Donny Lambeth in his Forsyth County House district.  Lambeth is a senior House budget writer and was an early Republican champion of Medicaid expansion. Wiles won 53.97% of the vote to Lambeth’s 46.03%, according to unofficial returns. 

Democrats ended the Republican’s veto-proof majority in the Senate, flipping seats held by powerful Republicans. 

Democrat Jessica Bichler defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Michael Lee in Senate District 7. With all precincts reporting in the New Hanover district, Bichler was leading 52.64% to 47.36%. Lee was considered a front-runner to replace Sen. Phil Berger as Senate leader.

In an eastern North Carolina district, Democrat Jess Rivera was leading incumbent Republican Sen. Buck Newton, 51.07% to  48.93%, with all precincts reporting. Newton is in his fifth term and co-chairs the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees. 

In a closely watched Senate race, Democratic former House member James Gailliard defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Lisa Barnes in Senate District 11, which includes Nash, Franklin and Vance counties. Gailliard leads with 51.37% of the vote to Barnes 46.28%, with all precincts reporting. 

House District 117, the district Rep. Jennifer Balkcom gave up to run for Congress, flipped from Republican to Democrat in unofficial returns, with Democrat Lynne Russo defeating Republican Chelsea Walsh, 51.74% to 48.26%.

In another House flip, Democrat LeVon Barnes defeated seven-term incumbent Rep. Dennis Riddell in District 64 in Alamance County, 52.73% to 47.27%, with all precincts reporting. 

In another mountain district, Democrat Charlie Wallin was leading incumbent Republican Ray Pickett with all precincts counted. The margin was in recount territory, with Wallin leading 50.30% to 49.70%. Candidates for the legislature who appear to have lost can request a recount if the difference in votes is 1% or less of total votes cast. 

In another flipped Senate seat, Democrat April Cook defeated Republican Kevin Crutchfield in District 34 in Cabarrus County. Cook was ahead 57.66% to 42.34%, with all precincts reporting. Crutchfield defeated the Republican incumbent in the GOP primary. 

Unofficial results show Democrats defeating GOP incumbents in urban Wake and Mecklenburg, and in more rural counties such as Nash and Wilson. 

Here’s what happened in some of the closely watched races.  

In Mecklenburg’s House District 105, Democrat Ken McCool defeated incumbent Republican Tricia Cotham, 57.11% to 42.89% with all precincts reporting. This is the second election cycle where Democrats put a special focus on defeating Cotham. She switched parties in 2023 to give House Republicans the veto-proof majority they needed to cancel vetoes of abortion, elections, and education bills. With a McCool victory, the entire Mecklenburg House delegation is Democratic. 

Two Democratic challengers defeated Republican incumbents in Wake County. With all precincts reporting, Democrat Winn Decker defeated GOP Rep. Erin Pare with 54.72% of the vote to her 45.28% in the southern Wake district.  In northern Wake County, Democratic challenger Evonne Hopkins defeated Republican incumbent Mike Schietzelt, 54.95% to 45.05% with all precincts reporting.

And in northern Wake’s Senate district, Democratic incumbent Haseeb Fatmi defeated Republican Chris Stock 54.77% to 42.79%.  Fatmi was appointed to the seat this year to replace former Sen. Terence Everitt, who resigned in April.  

Wake County’s entire legislative delegation will be Democratic next year.   

Beyond North Carolina’s big metro areas, Democrat Lorenza Wilkins defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Allen Chesser, with all precincts reporting, 52.67% to 44.73%. The race was a rematch of the 2024 contest, which Chesser won by less than one point.  House District 25 includes most of Nash County, which is considered a bellwether for the state. Libertarian Nick Taylor received 2.61% of the vote in House District 25.

In House District 32, Democratic incumbent Rep. Bryan Cohn defeated Republican Frank Sossamon. Sossamon was trying to win back the seat that includes Granville and Vance counties that he narrowly lost to Cohn in 2024. Cohn holds a comfortable lead this year, with 55.39% of the vote to Sossamon’s 44.61%

In a House district that includes Wilson County and a bit of Nash, Democrat Dante Pittman, an incumbent in his first term defeated Republican Blake Boykin, chair of the Wilson County Board of Education, 58.26% to 41.74%, with all precincts reporting.

Registered Democrats built a substantial edge during the early voting period, which also saw higher than usual turnout by unaffiliated voters. With 2.8 million votes having been cast during the early voting period that ended Saturday, Republicans needed significant Election Day turnout to win in closely contested races. 

County boards of election must still count provisional ballots, some absentee ballots, and military ballots, which don’t have to be in until 5 p.m. Nov. 12.

Voters and candidates may also file election protests alleging illegalities or irregularities. 

County boards of election are scheduled to meet on Nov. 13 to certify election results. 

County boards of election must still consider provisional ballots. The apparent losers in some close contests may request recounts.