RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s delegation to the U.S. House swung sharply toward Democrats on Tuesday, with complete but unofficial state returns showing the party winning 10 of the state’s 14 seats after entering the election in the minority.
Several veteran Republicans lost. Rep. Richard Hudson, who chairs the House Republican campaign committee and whose district includes Fort Bragg, fell to Democrat Richard Ojeda in the 9th District by about 6,000 votes, 51% to 49%. Former state House Speaker Tim Moore, who helped draw the 14th District map while in the legislature, lost to Democrat Lakesha Womack by the same percentage split.
Just 901 votes separated the two candidates in the 5th District, where Democrat Chuck Hubbard edged longtime Rep. Virginia Foxx. Democrat Cyril Jefferson unseated Rep. Addison McDowell in the 6th, and Democrat Paul Barringer led first-term Rep. Brad Knott by roughly 7,650 votes in the 13th, a Triangle-area district that wraps around Wake County. In the western 11th, Democrat Jamie Ager won the seat Republican Chuck Edwards gave up when he ended his reelection bid.
Democratic Rep. Don Davis kept his eastern 1st District seat despite a map Republican legislators redrew last year to help unseat him. Davis, an Air Force veteran and former state lawmaker, took about 50% to 47% for Republican Laurie Buckhout in one of the costliest House races in the country. Buckhout conceded and said she had phoned Davis to congratulate him.
Republicans held on in a few close contests. In the 3rd District, Rep. Greg Murphy of Greenville finished 233 votes ahead of Democrat Raymond Smith, close enough that Smith may request a recount, and Smith has not conceded. Rep. David Rouzer kept the 7th District by 425 votes over Kimberly Hardy.
The swing came as Democratic gains across the country gave the party control of the U.S. House, and as Roy Cooper won the state’s open Senate seat at the top of the ticket.
Some absentee and provisional ballots are still being counted, and county canvasses are set for Nov. 13.
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