Incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Alma Adams easily won reelection Monday night, while Democratic challenger Jamie Ager flipped a Republican-held district in western North Carolina. Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Tim Moore was in an unexpectedly close race, trailing to his opponent with most precincts reporting.
In the Charlotte region:
- The 12th District covers Charlotte and parts of Mecklenburg County. In Adams' race, the Associated Press declared Adams the winner. She was up 82% to 18% over Republican Jack Codiga, with most precincts reporting a little after 10 pm.
- In House District 11, covering much of the mountains, the AP called the race for Ager while he led 56.8% to 41.7% over Jennifer Balkcom, who was running to replace scandal-plagued Rep. Chuck Edwards.
- Republican Tim Moore represents the 14th District, stretching from Morganton and Rutherfordton in the west to parts of Mecklenburg County. Moore trailed Democrat Lakesha Womack. She led Moore by 50.72% to 49.28% with almost all precincts reporting.
- North of Charlotte, the 10th District includes Iredell, Lincoln and Catawba counties. At a few minutes after 9 p.m., Republican incumbent Rep. Pat Harrigan narrowly led Democrat Ashley Bell with 49.89% to Bell's 48.58%.
- The 8th District runs from southeast Mecklenburg County to Lumberton and is represented by Republican Mark Harris. Harris led his challenger, Democrat Colby Watson, 50.34% to 48.67% with a little less than half of precincts reporting.
- The 9th District includes much of the state's center, from Pinehurst to Burlington. Incumbent Republican Rep. Richard Hudson trailed Democrat Richard Ojeda with 48.95% to Ojeda's 51.05%.
Elsewhere in the state, Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat trying to hold onto his eastern North Carolina district, was in a tough race with Republican Laurie Buckhout, leading 49.39% to 47.4%.
Democrats are trying to flip control of the U.S. House. Republicans have been trying to protect their majority by gerrymandering more favorable districts in Republican-controlled states like Texas, countered by Democrats in California and other states they control.
In North Carolina, the General Assembly redrew district lines, including Davis' 1st District, to make demographics more favorable to Republicans. The state had already moved from a 7-7 Republican-Democratic split in its House delegation to a 10-4 split after a previous round of redistricting before the latest gerrymanders. Republicans were hoping to pick up at least one more seat by defeating Davis.
