RALEIGH, N.C. — House Democratic leader Robert Reives said Friday he already has the votes lined up to become the next speaker of the North Carolina House, putting him on course to run the chamber after Democrats flipped it for the first time since 2010.
Reives, a Chatham County Democrat who has headed the caucus since 2021, said no other House Democrat has stepped forward publicly for the job. The House Democratic Caucus plans to rubber-stamp him and the rest of its leadership slate on Nov. 16. The full chamber elects the speaker when the new General Assembly opens Jan. 13.
Democrats captured no fewer than 66 of 120 House seats on Tuesday. A few contests were still unsettled Friday as counties started sorting provisional ballots, and recounts remain possible in some districts.
In a written statement, Reives said voters chose Democrats to ease living costs and that the caucus intends to move fast. He has signaled that House Democrats will reopen bills filed in recent sessions and treat school funding as a top goal next to affordability.
Outgoing Speaker Destin Hall, a Caldwell County Republican first elevated in 2025, congratulated Reives and the Democratic caucus and said he expects to work with him in the coming biennium. Hall also said Republicans will keep pushing conservative policy.
Gov. Josh Stein publicly congratulated Reives on Friday and said he looks forward to partnering with the speaker-elect next year. The speaker names committee chairs, decides which bills advance and bargains the state budget with the Senate and the governor.
State Senate control remains unsettled. Early tallies show Republicans clinging to a narrow edge that could vanish if one unfinished Senate race flips, which would leave Democrats with the House, the governorship and a potential 25-25 Senate tie broken by Democratic Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt.
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