2026 results · North Carolina · North Carolina Senate
Roy Cooper, the Democrat, flips North Carolina's Senate seat
Donald Trump carried North Carolina by 3.2 points in 2024; this year's count is a 22.8-point move toward the Democrats. The Republicans held it before the election.
| Candidate | Votes | Share | Share of the vote |
|---|---|---|---|
 Roy CooperDemocrat | 2,467,972 | 58.7% | |
 Michael WhatleyRepublican | 1,643,114 | 39.1% | |
| Shannon W. BrayLibertarian | 55,727 | 1.3% | |
| Michael DublinOther party | 36,405 | 0.9% |
Called by Call the Map, Nov 3, 8:22 PM EST · 96% counted.
About 96% of the expected vote counted4,203,218 votesCount last changed Nov 7, 5:07 PM ESTSource: North Carolina State Board of Elections
The map
Loading the map.
What moved most
Scroll through North Carolina, part by part. The parts follow the federal government’s metropolitan areas: each big metro’s core counties, its suburbs and outer suburbs, the smaller metro areas, then the small towns and countryside.
What the count shows
Added together, the 100 counties compared moved 22.8 points toward the Democrats from the 2024 presidential vote.
The counties compared cast 74% as many votes as in 2024, from 84% in Durham County to 62% in Onslow County. Where turnout ran higher, the county moved more toward the Republicans (r = −0.41).
Johnston County moved most: R+21.5 for president in 2024, D+6.0 this year
The 10 counties with the largest moves from the 2024 presidential vote, among those with 2,000 or more votes for president in 2024 and a quarter of that counted, and at least half a percent of the state's 2024 vote. Each line runs from the 2024 margin to this year’s.
2024 president 2026
Wake County added 81,151 net votes for Cooper against the 2024 margin, 8% of the statewide change
Across the 100 counties compared, the margin moved by 1,007,906 votes toward Cooper: this year’s lead in votes against the 2024 presidential lead in votes, county by county. The figure counts voters who changed sides and differences in who turned out alike; the count cannot tell them apart.
- Wake County+81,151 Cooper
- Mecklenburg County+47,024 Cooper
- Union County+32,246 Cooper
- Johnston County+32,127 Cooper
- Davidson County+30,368 Cooper
- Gaston County+29,746 Cooper
- Guilford County+29,375 Cooper
- Iredell County+28,020 Cooper
21 counties Donald Trump carried in 2024 are led by Cooper this year
Striped on the map above. Largest first.
- Johnston CountyR+21.5D+6.0
- Cabarrus CountyR+7.7D+17.4
- Alamance CountyR+8.2D+14.7
- Henderson CountyR+14.6D+6.0
- Harnett CountyR+25.1D+0.6
- Nash CountyR+1.8D+15.9
- Wayne CountyR+16.4D+2.8
- Franklin CountyR+13.6D+6.9
- Haywood CountyR+25.1D+0.5
- Granville CountyR+9.4D+10.0
- Lee CountyR+17.5D+10.1
- Lenoir CountyR+6.8D+8.9
- Transylvania CountyR+12.2D+10.0
- Jackson CountyR+9.4D+17.4
- Pasquotank CountyR+4.9D+12.9
- Richmond CountyR+20.9D+1.7
- Madison CountyR+23.5D+3.6
- Scotland CountyR+6.9D+12.4
- Martin CountyR+10.3D+7.0
- Anson CountyR+2.5D+11.3
- Greene CountyR+18.1D+0.4
How the vote came in
Cooper did best among mail ballots (D+53.3) and Whatley among Election Day votes(R+1.2).
- Early Voting2,718,490 votes, 65% of the countD+28.8
- Election Day1,376,910 votes, 33% of the countR+1.2
- Absentee by Mail107,691 votes, 3% of the countD+53.3
- Provisional127 votes, 0% of the countD+13.4
The office’s own categories, as it reports them. Margins are within each kind of vote.
What the places that moved have in common
Each of North Carolina’s counties, set against the Census Bureau’s figures for who lives there. A pattern across counties, not an exit poll: it does not say how any group of people voted.
Urban, suburban and rural counties
2024 president 2026 · Urban: 1,000 or more residents per square mile; suburban: 100 to 999; rural: under 100 (our grouping).
Census Bureau ACS 2019–2023 and 2023 Gazetteer; a county joins once its count is substantially in.
North Carolina’s ballot
All of North Carolina’s resultsThe state legislatureBallot measures
The seats that changed party
U.S. HouseBefore the election R 10–4, now D 10–4, counting the leaders in 4 uncalled seats
won leads, still counting changed party. Margins are the leader’s share minus the runner-up’s, in points.
Every count on this page is the official count published by the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Counts are unofficial until the state certifies them. The 2024 comparison is the presidential vote, Kamala Harris against Donald Trump, on the same ground. Margins are the Democrat minus the Republican, in points of all votes. Photos: Roy Cooper, by NetwonsBucket, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped, background removed; Michael Whatley, by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped, background removed.
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