North Carolina voters flip five U.S. House seats to Democrats

North Carolina voters shifted five U.S. House of Representatives seats to the Democratic Party following the election. These districts, including the Sixth, Ninth, 11th, 13th, and 14th, had boundaries drawn to favor Republican candidates. With all election day ballots counted, Democrats held a lead in each of these five races.

The most notable upsets occurred in districts where Republicans had won by wide margins in 2024. In the Triad-based Sixth Congressional District, High Point Mayor Cyril Jefferson defeated Addison McDowell by approximately 2.3 percentage points, a margin of more than 6,000 votes. McDowell had won that same district by 39 percentage points in the previous cycle. In the 11th District, Democrat Jamie Ager defeated Jennifer Balkcom by about 16 points. Balkcom had replaced Chuck Edwards, who won by 13 points in 2024, after Edwards dropped out of the race.

Two high-profile Republican incumbents lost their seats in the 2026 elections. Richard Hudson, who served as the fifth-highest ranking member of the U.S. House, lost the Ninth District to Richard Ojeda. Ojeda is a U.S. Army veteran and former member of the West Virginia State Senate. Tim Moore, a former Speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives, lost the 14th District to Democrat Lakesha Womack. Womack carried the fast-growing western parts of Mecklenburg County, while Moore won in more rural areas west of Charlotte. In the 13th District, Democrat Paul Barringer defeated incumbent Brad Knott.

Democrats also retained control of the First Congressional District in eastern North Carolina. Don Davis defeated Laurie Buckhout for the second consecutive cycle. Republicans had redrawn the district boundaries before this election to make the seat more competitive for their party. Despite the change, Davis increased his margin of victory, winning by 7,594 votes compared to a margin of about 6,300 votes in 2024. In her concession speech, Buckhout asked Davis to advocate for the district's infrastructure and jobs.

One race remains undecided. In the Fifth Congressional District, 11-term incumbent Virginia Foxx trails Democratic challenger Chuck Hubbard by 99 votes. Officials have declared the race too close to call due to provisional ballots and the likelihood of a recount. This narrow gap stands in contrast to the decisive shifts seen in the other flipped districts.