2026 results · North Carolina

Roy Cooper, the Democrat, flips North Carolina’s Senate seat

Roy Cooper won by 19.6 points, 22.8 points more Democratic than the state voted for president in 2024.

In the House, every one of the 14 contested seats moved toward Democrats, the median one 17.2 points.

Who won each county, and how far it moved

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North Carolina’s 14 House seats

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Before4–10

202610–4

Solid: won; paler: leading, still counting. The tick marks a majority (8 of 14). 5 seats change party: NC-11, NC-13, NC-06, NC-14, NC-09.

Republicans lost or trail in 6 seats by under 4 points: NC-05 Even*, NC-09 D+2.2, NC-14 D+2.2, NC-06 D+2.3, NC-13 D+2.4, NC-01 D+3.3. A majority took 8 of 14; they held 4, and the four closest would have made it.

The seat that decided the majority: NC-06, D+2.3, a district that voted R+16.9 for president in 2024.

Every seat, 2024 to 2026. Open circle: the 2024 presidential margin in the district. Filled: the 2026 House margin (the expected finish where still counting, marked *). Ordered from the most Democratic result to the most Republican; the rule marks the 8 seats needed for a majority.

← moved toward Democrats, → toward Republicans, in points from the 2024 presidential vote in the district. * still counting: the expected finish.

Close up: the four counties that moved most

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Each county’s move from the 2024 presidential vote in the Senate race; the maps above show the result beside it.

In the Senate race, these moved furthest toward Democrats, among counties with 2,000 or more votes in 2024 and at least half a percent of the state’s.

Johnston County
Moved 27.6 points toward Democrats: R+21.5 for president in 2024; Roy Cooper, the Democrat, carried it at D+6.0. The county changed sides.
88,773 votes counted, 124,360 cast in 2024.
Lee County
Moved 27.6 points toward Democrats: R+17.5 for president in 2024; Roy Cooper, the Democrat, carried it at D+10.1. The county changed sides.
21,217 votes counted, 30,007 cast in 2024.
Robeson County
Moved 27.0 points toward Democrats: R+27.7 for president in 2024; Michael Whatley, the Republican, carried it at R+0.6.
29,501 votes counted, 46,677 cast in 2024.
Surry County
Moved 26.6 points toward Democrats: R+53.3 for president in 2024; Michael Whatley, the Republican, carried it at R+26.7.
24,115 votes counted, 37,424 cast in 2024.

No county compared moved the other way.

Who lives where it moved

Barely related across counties. On average, ten more points of adults with a degree went with a county about 0.3 points more Republican (r = −0.14).

By place

Urban4 counties, 1,216,414 votes20.7 pts → D

Suburban52 counties, 2,526,998 votes23.0 pts → D

Rural44 counties, 459,806 votes20.2 pts → D

By race and ethnicity

Black residents 30% or more29 counties, 1,287,118 votes19.9 pts → D

White non-Hispanic 85% or more20 counties, 312,278 votes21.8 pts → D

Every other county51 counties, 2,603,822 votes24.0 pts → D

Each group’s counties added together: its 2026 margin against its 2024 presidential margin. Census Bureau American Community Survey, 2019–2023. Counties, not voters: there are no exit polls here.

Every race in North Carolina

Senate and governor

SenateFlipRoy Cooper Dover Michael Whatley (R)D+19.6R+3.222.8 pts → Dwon

House · Changes first, then the closest

District 9FlipRichard N. Ojeda II Dover Richard Hudson (R)D+2.2R+15.617.8 pts → Dwon District 14FlipLakesha Womack Dover Tim Moore (R)D+2.2R+14.817.1 pts → Dwon District 6FlipCyril Jefferson Dover Addison McDowell (R)D+2.3R+16.919.2 pts → Dwon District 13FlipPaul Barringer Dover Brad Knott (R)D+2.4R+16.318.7 pts → Dwon District 11FlipJamie Ager Dover Jennifer Capps Balkcom (R)D+15.8R+9.425.2 pts → Dwon District 5Chuck Hubbard Dover Virginia Foxx (R)Even*R+17.517.5 pts → Dcounting District 3Greg Murphy Rover Raymond Smith (D)R+0.1*R+13.413.3 pts → Dcounting District 7David Rouzer Rover Kimberly Hardy (D)R+0.8*R+13.712.9 pts → Dcounting

Ballot measures

Constitutional amendment: Maximum income tax rate of 3.5%61.9% yespassing

Constitutional amendment: Require photo ID for voting59.6% yespassing

Constitutional amendment: Property tax levy limit60.4% yespassing

Margins are the winner’s or leader’s lead in points of all votes cast. * Still counting: where we expect the count to finish. The move is the 2026 margin against the 2024 presidential margin on the same ground, for races between a Democrat and a Republican.

Ticket splitting

Across the 71 counties that lie wholly in one district, the Senate race went D+8.4 and the House races D+4.3: the Senate margin ran 4.1 points more Democratic than the House margin. 5 counties were carried by different parties in the two.

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Points of difference between the Senate margin and the House margin in each county.

Each circle is a county, its area the votes cast. Above the line the Senate Democrat did better than the House Democrat; below it, worse.

37085carried by different parties

Senate: D+0.6Cooper against Whatley
House: R+4.3the district's race
Difference: D+4.8Cooper ran ahead
Votes: about 44,966

Most votes firstSen.HouseDiff.

Margins are the Democrat minus the Republican in points of all votes cast in that race, from the counts the state’s election office has published so far; a county still counting is compared on what it has counted in both. The House is compared only in counties that lie wholly inside one congressional district, so the county's House margin is one race's margin; a county divided between districts, or in a district without a Democrat against a Republican, is left out. 29 counties are left out. A difference is not a count of split tickets: a voter who skipped one race moves it too.

North Carolina’s legislature

Senate50 of 50 seats on the ballotBefore20–30Leaders24–264 seats are led by another party than held them. Control is not settled.Every district, mapped →House120 of 120 seats on the ballotBefore47–712 othersLeaders71–4825 seats are led by another party than held them. Control moves to the Democrats.Every district, mapped →

Counts are North Carolina’s official state and county counts, published by the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Where a race is still being counted, its margin is where we expect the count to finish, marked *. A move from 2024 is the 2026 margin against Kamala Harris’s margin over Donald Trump in the same place. A race is won when we call it or the state certifies it.