North Carolina
North Carolina's 5 open congressional seats drawing candidates in droves
RALEIGH, N.C. — With five members of North Carolina’s U.S. House delegation declining to run this year, next week’s primaries have attracted dozens of Republican candidates seeking what could become extended time on Capitol Hill.
Some of the turnover can be attributed to redistricting — the Republican-controlled General Assembly last fall approved districts skewing rightward, prompting Democratic Reps. Jeff Jackson, Kathy Manning and Wiley Nickel to forgo reelection bids.
Compared to a map drawn by state judges for 2022 elections that resulted in Democrats and Republicans winning seven congressional seats each, the latest map makes it likely the GOP will win at least 10 of the 14 seats, according to election data. These seat flips could benefit national Republicans trying to retain what is now a fragile House majority in 2025.
Republican Reps. Patrick McHenry and Dan Bishop also declined to seek reelection, opening up vacancies in heavily GOP areas.
With courts rejecting legal arguments that redistricting maps can be struck down for favoring a party’s candidates disproportionately, chances are improved that North Carolina’s current congressional lines will stay in place through the 2030 elections, one redistricting expert says.
Given voting behavior and the shape of the districts, whoever wins can conceivably hold a seat “as long as they want,” said Michael Bitzer, a Catawba College political science professor. “This could be a very long career for whoever gets elected in this primary.”
Four of the Republican primaries for seats where no incumbent is running have at least five candidates. That raises the possibility of May 14 runoffs between a race’s two top vote-getters should a leading candidate fail to receive more than 30% of the vote.
Mark Harris, Republican candidate in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional race, talks during a recess in testimony during the second day of a public evidentiary hearing on the 9th congressional district voting irregularities investigation Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019, at the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh, N.C. In North Carolina’s south-central 8th District, the six-candidate GOP field includes Harris and state Rep. John Bradford of Charlotte. Credit: AP/Travis Long
The open seats have attracted candidates including current North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore, former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker and the Rev. Mark Harris. Harris appeared to receive the most votes for a 2018 congressional election but never took office as a new election was ordered over an absentee ballot fraud probe.
Fourteen Republicans are competing for Nickel’s seat in the 13th District, now shaped like a horseshoe arcing around most of Raleigh and stretching from Lee County — then east and north — to the Virginia border.
Candidates include Kelly Daughtry, a Smithfield attorney, and Johnston County businessman DeVan Barbour, both of whom ran in the 2022 primary. Television ads have helped raise the profiles of Wake Forest businessman Fred Von Canon and former federal prosecutor Brad Knott of Raleigh. And Dr. Josh McConkey of Apex gained attention after winning a state lottery jackpot. The nominee will take on Democrat Frank Pierce in November.
Republican former President Donald Trump so far has endorsed candidates for two of the five open seats, including Addison McDowell in the 6th District and Moore in the 14th District.
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore walks on the floor Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Raleigh, N.C. Former President Donald Trump so far has endorsed candidates in two of the five open North Carolina Houose seats with Addison McDowell in the 6th District and Moore in the 14th District. Credit: AP/Chris Seward
McDowell, most recently a lobbyist for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, received Trump’s backing and those of legislative leaders in his first bid for public office. The reconfigured 6th District, whose seat is currently held by Manning, stretches from Greensboro and Winston-Salem south and west to Concord.
McDowell’s rivals include Bo Hines, who received Trump’s endorsement when he won the 13th District GOP nomination in 2022, and Walker, who served in Congress in the Greensboro area for six years through 2020. Hines, who narrowly lost to Nickel in the 2022 general election, this time around again received the endorsement of the Club for Growth PAC. Christian Castelli is a retired Army officer and Green Beret who lost to Manning in the 2022 general election. He is also in the six-person field to become the GOP 6th District nominee, who will face no Democratic opposition in the fall.
Moore is seeking the nomination for the 14th District, which includes portions of Charlotte and points west to the foothills. The Kings Mountain lawyer has served in the General Assembly since 2003 and was first elected speaker in 2015. With Jackson deciding against reelection and running for attorney general instead, Pam Genant and Brendan Maginnis are running for the Democratic nomination.
In the south-central 8th District, with Bishop also deciding instead to run for attorney general, the six-candidate GOP field includes Harris and state Rep. John Bradford of Charlotte.
Harris, a Baptist minister, finished first in the 2018 general election in a similarly situated congressional district. But the State Board of Elections ordered a new election after receiving allegations and evidence that a political operative who worked for Harris had run an illegal “ballot harvesting” operation. Several people ultimately entered plea convictions. Harris wasn’t charged. He called publicly for a new election in which he declined to run. Now, Harris says he was the victim of a “manufactured scandal.”
The five-member GOP field seeking to succeed McHenry in the 10th District — anchored by Iredell County while stretching to Winston-Salem and Lincolnton — includes 2022 congressional candidate Pat Harrigan and state Rep. Grey Mills. The winner will take on Democrat Ralph Scott Jr. and a Libertarian Party candidate in the fall.
Voting patterns and past election results show the reconfigured 1st District — covering all or parts of 22 eastern counties — as the likely lone toss-up race in November. The district is currently represented by first-term Democratic Rep. Don Davis, who beat Republican Sandy Smith in 2022 and is seeking reelection. Smith is competing with ex-Army colonel Laurie Buckhout for the GOP nomination. Smith received Trump’s endorsement in 2022.
Other incumbents competing in the March 5 primaries are first-term Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards in the far-western 11th District; GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx in the northwestern 5th District; Richard Hudson in the Piedmont and Sandhills-area 9th District; and Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross in the Raleigh-dominated 2nd District.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — A graduation ceremony for NC State University’s Department of Biological Sciences at Reynolds Coliseum on Friday night left hundreds of family members outside, frustrated and emotional after they were not allowed into the building.
Inside, graduates were met with pomp and circumstance as they walked across the stage to accept their degrees.
Outside, people shouted in confusion as they realized they would not be permitted to enter.
“I’m hurt. She’s hurting. We’re hurt,” said Dr. Darlene Jackson, a grandmother from Winston-Salem. “They’re asking, can’t we get here? But this is ridiculous. Ridiculous.”
We get here, and we are turned away. That’s BS. It shouldn’t be happening like this. They did not plan this well,
– Sally Charlet, NCSU grandparent
Families said they arrived about an hour before the 7:30 p.m. ceremony, only to find a line wrapped around the building. Many said they were eventually told the venue had reached capacity.
“They are saying the fire marshal shut it down because it’s too crowded,” Jackson said. “They should have known how many occupy this. They should have had it in a different place.”
Sally Charlet said she flew in from Florida earlier in the day to watch her granddaughter graduate.
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“We get here, and we are turned away,” she said. “That’s BS. It shouldn’t be happening like this. They did not plan this well, and they should have tickets. That would have made a lot of sense.”
According to GoPack.com, Reynolds Coliseum seats about 5,500 people.
Some families said they were especially devastated after years of supporting their students’ work.
This is awful, and it needs to be made right.
– Eddie McFall, NCSU parent
“It’s very disheartening,” said Rhonda Bartone, whose son earned his Ph.D. In toxicology. “He did a five-year program getting his Ph.D., and we have no family. And they’re seeing him get his Ph.D. right now. We had to text his professor and ask him to please take some pictures of him. It’s hard not to cry.”
Several people outside shared photos sent by students inside showing empty seats.
“There was unfortunately not better planning for the hundreds of students, maybe even thousands of students, and, of course, thousands of students, even more people, parents, siblings, loved ones,” said Julia Norton, whose fiancé earned his Ph.D.
One father, Eddie McFall, who is also an alumnus of NC State, said he has three children at the university, including a senior graduating Friday.
“His mother was five feet from the door when they shut it down,” he said. “Won’t let anybody in there.”
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About 45 minutes after the ceremony began, someone came outside to address the remaining crowd. Families were told their only option was to watch a livestream from the student union or on their phones.
“I can go to my house and watch the livestream,” McFall said. “Who’s the event coordinator? Who from the school did this? This is awful, and it needs to be made right.”
NC State did not respond to questions about how the situation unfolded or why the event was not ticketed. The university said it provided a livestream for those unable to attend in person and had posted earlier in the week advising visitors to expect delays around the coliseum.
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NORTH CAROLINA — Fifteen lineworkers from North Carolina’s electric cooperatives recently traveled to Guatemala to help bring first-time access to electricity to a rural village.
The group spent three weeks working in El Plan Nuevo Amanecer.
Crews constructed three miles of line, bringing power to more than 50 homes, a school, two churches and the community’s only health clinic.
Photo: North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives
Without access to bucket trucks or heavy machinery, volunteers worked by hand across rugged terrain.
The project helped bring light to the village, creating new opportunities for education, economic growth and safer everyday life for the community.
The effort was done alongside NRECA International.
Volunteer lineworkers represented several North Carolina electric cooperatives, including EnergyUnited, Union Power Cooperative, Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative, Jones-Onslow EMC, Edgecombe-Martin County EMC, South River EMC, Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation and Rutherford EMC.
Photo: North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives
The NC Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at Thursday, May 7, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Pick 3 numbers from May 7 drawing
Day: 3-7-3, Fireball: 0
Evening: 3-5-8, Fireball: 9
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from May 7 drawing
Day: 8-1-3-1, Fireball: 5
Evening: 7-1-5-3, Fireball: 4
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 5 numbers from May 7 drawing
10-11-14-19-36
Check Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Double Play numbers from May 7 drawing
01-25-31-32-33
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 7 drawing
05-08-21-44-48, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All North Carolina Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $599.
For prizes over $599, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at North Carolina Lottery Offices. By mail, send a prize claim form, your signed lottery ticket, copies of a government-issued photo ID and social security card to: North Carolina Education Lottery, P.O. Box 41606, Raleigh, NC 27629. Prize claims less than $600 do not require copies of photo ID or a social security card.
To submit in person, sign the back of your ticket, fill out a prize claim form and deliver the form, along with your signed lottery ticket and government-issued photo ID and social security card to any of these locations:
- Asheville Regional Office & Claim Center: 16-G Regent Park Blvd., Asheville, NC 28806, 877-625-6886 press #1. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- Greensboro Regional Office & Claim Center: 20A Oak Branch Drive, Greensboro, NC 27407, 877-625-6886 press #2. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- Charlotte Regional Office & Claim Center: 5029-A West W. T. Harris Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28269-1861, 877-625-6886 press #3. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- NC Lottery Headquarters: Raleigh Claim Center & Regional Office, 2728 Capital Blvd., Suite 144, Raleigh, NC 27604, 877-625-6886 press #4. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
- Greenville Regional Office & Claim Center: 2790 Dickinson Avenue, Suite A, Greenville, NC 27834, 877-625-6886 press #5. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- Wilmington Regional Office & Claim Center: 123 North Cardinal Drive Extension, Suite 140, Wilmington, NC 28405, 877-625-6886 press #6. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at https://nclottery.com/.
When are the North Carolina Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:38 p.m. daily.
- Pick 3, 4: 3:00 p.m. and 11:22 p.m. daily.
- Cash 5: 11:22 p.m. daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Carolina Connect editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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