Meet The Accidental Winners in North Carolina's Congressional Delegation

Democrats prevailed across the board in North Carolina on Tuesday, winning four statewide races and wresting control of the state House of Representatives for the first time since 2010. The party also saw several accidental winners on a Congressional level, including a woman who was served a felony warrant at a campaign event and a former West Virginia state senator with a string of unhinged anti-Trump comments.

Roy Cooper defeated Michael Whatley in the state’s U.S. Senate contest, handing control of the seat to a Democrat for the first time since the late Kay Hagan defeated Elizabeth Dole in 2008 and served a single term.

At the state court level, incumbent Democrat Anita Earls defeated Republican Sarah Stevens and the party swept three races on the state Court of Appeals. Republicans are expected to maintain the majority in the state Senate following a recount in one race.

NC-06 Cyril Jefferson

Democrat Jefferson defeated first-term Republican incumbent Addison McDowell in a district stretching from Greensboro and Winston-Salem to Concord, just outside of Charlotte. Jefferson, the mayor of High Point, raised just over $200,000 in the race compared to McDowell, who raised $1.4 million.

NC-09 Richard Ojeda

Ojeda, a Democrat, defeated National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Richard Hudson in the district by just over 2 percentage points in a race that was so under-the-radar his past history went largely unreported by media in the state.

He has said he’d “be willing to go to jail to kick the shit out of” Stephen Miller, President Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff; vocally supported abortion; and led a teacher strike while serving in the West Virginia state Senate.

NC-13 Paul Barringer

Democrat Barringer moved to the area after spending his career as a healthcare lawyer in Maryland to challenge Brad Knott, a Republican and former federal prosecutor who won the seat in 2024. Knott’s campaign saw warning signs in October and ran ads attacking Barringer’s recent move to the state.

NC-14 Lakesha Womack

Womack, a Democrat, was served a felony warrant at a campaign event this year over a 2020 charge for failing to return a rental car, Charlotte TV station WBTV reported less than a week before Tuesday’s midterm election. Womack raised just $59,000 in her campaign defeating Tim Moore, who was the longest-serving state House Speaker in North Carolina history before winning the seat two years ago. Moore took in $2 million during his reelection bid.

In addition, two races are still to be determined, the state’s 3rd and 5th Districts. In both races the status of provisional and absentee ballots could swing the contests in either direction. The two Republican incumbents are Greg Murphy and House Rules Committee Chair Virginia Foxx.

Democrats won both races that were targeted by both Democrats and Republicans, NC-01 and NC-11, with Don Davis returning to Washington for a third term and Jamie Ager winning the seat once held by his grandfather.

Follow Matt Mercer on X: @mattmercer.