NC’s House delegation set for shake-up
Moore’s GOP win likely to spark big change in redrawn state
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore won the Republican nomination for Congress in the state’s 14th District on Tuesday, starting what was expected to be a thorough shake-up of the U.S. House delegation.
The 14th is one of three congressional districts expected to flip from Democrats to Republicans in the November election after the state’s Republican-controlled General Assembly redrew voting maps.
Candidates in the 6th and 13th Districts appeared headed for runoffs after none received more than 30% of the vote.
The new maps seem likely to transform a delegation now comprising seven Democrats and seven Republicans to one with 10 Republicans and four Democrats.
In the wake of the redistricting changes, five incumbents didn’t run. Democratic Reps. Jeff Jackson, Kathy Manning and Wiley Nickel decided to forgo reelection bids in districts that are now much more heavily tilted toward Republicans. Republican Reps. Dan Bishop and Patrick McHenry are stepping aside for unrelated reasons.
Moore easily defeated two Republican opponents. The Speaker’s colleagues in the General Assembly redrew the 14th District in a way that seems to ensure the Kings Mountain lawyer will get his wish to serve in Congress. Moore is leaving the state Legislature after 21 years.
Army veteran and registered nurse Pam Genant won the district’s Democratic nomination in the district, which includes portions of Charlotte and points west to the foothills.
Fourteen Republicans were competing for the open 13th District, now shaped like a horseshoe running north, east and south around Raleigh.
The nominee will take on Democrat Frank Pierce in November.
In the 6th District, Blue Cross and Blue Shield lobbyist and political newcomer Addison McDowell and second-place finisher and former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker appeared headed for a runoff after outpacing four other Republicans in the currently Democratic district.
No Democrat filed to run in the seat.
In the open 8th District seat, the Rev. Mark Harris held a narrow lead over political newcomer and Union County farmer Allan Baucom.
Justin Dues is the only Democrat running in the district, which stretches from Charlotte east to Lumberton.
The 10th district came open when McHenry, who had a brief stint in 2023 as the U.S. House speaker, unexpectedly announced that he wasn’t running again.
Green Beret Pat Harrigan, who unsuccessfully ran in a different U.S. House district in 2022, won the Republican nomination. Harrigan will take on Democrat Ralph Scott Jr. and a Libertarian Party candidate in November.
Previous election data shows there remains one likely swing district in North Carolina. First-term Democratic Rep. Don Davis is running for reelection in the 1st District. He will take on ex-Army colonel Laurie Buckhout, who won the GOP nomination for the district in the northeast part of the state.
Republican Reps. Greg Murphy in the eastern 3rd District, which includes the Outer Banks, and David Rouzer in the southeastern 7th District were unopposed in the primaries. Chuck Edwards in the far-western 11th District and Richard Hudson in the Piedmont and Sandhills-area 9th District also are seeking reelection and defeated primary opponents.
Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross in the Raleigh-dominated 2nd District won her party’s nomination and will face Alan Swain who earned the Republican nod. Democratic Rep. Valerie Foushee in the Durham-area 4th District was unopposed and will face Republican Eric Blankenburg, while Rep. Alma Adams in Charlotte’s 12th District was unopposed in the Democratic primary and will face the GOP’s Addul Ali.