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North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore won the Republican nomination for Congress in the state’s 14th District on Tuesday, starting what was expected to be a thorough shake-up of the U.S. House delegation.
The 14th is one of three congressional districts expected to flip from Democrats to Republicans in the November election after the state’s Republican-controlled General Assembly redrew voting maps fashioned by judges for the 2022 elections.
Candidates in the 6th and 13th Districts appeared headed for runoffs after none of them received more than 30% of the vote.
The new maps seem likely to transform a delegation now comprising seven Democrats and seven Republicans to one with 10 Republicans and four Democrats.
In the wake of the redistricting changes, five incumbents didn’t run for another term. Democratic Reps. Jeff Jackson, Kathy Manning and Wiley Nickel decided to forgo reelection bids in districts that are now much more heavily tilted toward Republicans. Republican Reps. Dan Bishop and Patrick McHenry are stepping aside for unrelated reasons.
SEATS THAT ARE LIKELY TO FLIP
Moore easily defeated two Republican opponents. The Speaker’s colleagues in the General Assembly redrew the 14th District in a way that seems to ensure the Kings Mountain lawyer will get his wish to serve in Congress. Moore is leaving the state Legislature after 21 years.
Army veteran and registered nurse Pam Genant won the Democratic nomination in the district, which includes portions of Charlotte and points west to the foothills.
Fourteen Republicans were competing for the open 13th District, now shaped like a horseshoe running north, east and south around Raleigh.
Smithfield attorney and first-place finisher Kelly Daughtry appeared to be headed for a runoff after she just missed the 30% threshold to win outright. Her opponent was undecided, with former federal prosecutor Brad Knott of Raleigh and Wake Forest businessman Fred Von Canon battling for second place.
The nominee will take on Democrat Frank Pierce in November.
In the 6th District, Blue Cross and Blue Shield lobbyist and political newcomer Addison McDowell and second-place finisher and former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker appeared headed for a runoff after outpacing four other Republicans in the currently Democratic district.
No Democrat filed to run in the seat, which stretches from Greensboro and Winston-Salem south and west to Concord.
The second-place candidate has to request another election in writing. A runoff would be held on May 14.
WHAT RACES ARE COMPETITIVE?
In the open 8th District seat, the Rev. Mark Harris held a narrow lead early Wednesday over political newcomer and Union County farmer Allan Baucom.
Justin Dues is the only Democrat running in the district, which stretches from Charlotte east to Lumberton.
In 2018, Harris appeared to receive the most votes in the general election for Congress, but never took office. A new election was ordered over an absentee ballot fraud probe and he decided not to run again. He now calls what happened a “manufactured scandal.”
The 10th district came open when McHenry, who had a brief stint in 2023 as the U.S. House speaker, unexpectedly announced that he wasn’t running again.
Green Beret Pat Harrigan, who unsuccessfully ran in a different U.S. House district in 2022, won the Republican nomination. Harrigan will take on Democrat Ralph Scott Jr. and a Libertarian Party candidate in the November general election.
Previous election data shows there remains one likely swing district in North Carolina. First-term Democratic Rep. Don Davis is running for reelection in the 1st District. He will take on ex-Army colonel Laurie Buckhout, who won the GOP nomination for the district in the northeast part of the state.
WHAT OTHER INCUMBENTS ARE RUNNING?
Several Republican incumbents are running again, including Rep. Virginia Foxx, who defeated a Republican challenger on Tuesday as she seeks an 11th term from the 5th District in northwestern North Carolina.
Republican Reps. Greg Murphy in the eastern 3rd District and David Rouzer in the southeastern 7th District are unopposed in the primaries. Chuck Edwards in the far-western 11th District and Richard Hudson in the Piedmont and Sandhills-area 9th District are also seeking reelection and defeated primary opponents whom they vastly outspent.
Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross in the Raleigh-dominated 2nd District won her party’s nomination and will face Alan Swain who earned the Republican nod. Democratic Rep. Valerie Foushee in the Durham-area 4th District was unopposed and will face Republican Eric Blankenburg, while Rep. Alma Adams in Charlotte’s 12th District was unopposed in the Democratic primary and will face the GOP’s Addul Ali.
Jeffrey Collins, The Associated Press