2026 General Election: November 3, 2026. New info launches early October.
Breakfast
Ideas
GASTON
COUNTY
Federal
US Senate
U.S. Senators serve six-year terms. There are six Democrats and seven Republicans running for this office, including former N.C. Governor Roy Cooper and former Republican party chair Michael Whatley. This is a complete list of the roles and responsibilities of the U.S. Senate.
Democrat
Republican
US House of Representatives
U.S. House of Representatives members are elected every two years. This includes a detailed description of the responsibilities of members of Congress.
Democrat
Republican
State
N.C. General Assembly
The entire North Carolina state legislature (officially the General Assembly which includes both N.C. Senate and N.C. House of Representatives) is up for election every two years. All offices will be on the ballot in the general election in November but only a handful are on the ballot during the primary. The key roles of the General Assembly are to determine the state tax rate, determine the state’s budget and create state laws.
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Only N.C. House District 110 covering western Gaston County will appear on the primary ballot. All the house districts and senate districts will appear on the 2026 general election ballot.
N.C. House Map
Democrat
No candidates on ballot.
Republican
N.C. Statewide Judicial Offices
The terms for the N.C. Supreme Court and the N.C. Appeals Court are eight years. They are staggered terms; four seats in the state Supreme Court and the state Appeals Court are up for election in 2026. Only two Appeals Court seats will appear on the primary ballot.
Democrat
Republican
Municipal
Gaston Local Government Roles
Local elections in 2026 include a variety of seats for county Boards of Commissioners and Boards of Education.
Gaston Legal-Related Roles
Legal-related offices on the ballot in 2026 include county sheriffs, district attorneys and district and superior court judges. Only the sheriff's race for Gaston County will appear on the primary ballot.
Democrat
No candidates on ballot.
Republican
What is a primary?
A primary election is a “run-off” where contestants from one political party compete with one another. The winner of a primary will be on the ballot for the general election. If there is only one contestant from a political party running, there will not be a primary for that party for that race.
Can anyone vote in a primary?
North Carolina has partisan primaries that are open to unaffiliated voters. Any registered Democratic, Republican or unaffiliated voter can vote in this North Carolina primary. Specifically, registered Republicans and registered Democrats can only vote in their party’s primary. Unaffiliated voters can select which primary they want to vote in. That said, other voters registered with third parties (e.g. Libertarian, Green Party, No Labels) are not eligible to vote in this primary.
Why is voting in primaries important?
In general, voter participation rates for primaries are much lower than for general elections. On average across North Carolina, fewer than 20% of voters voted in the last midterm primary in 2022. When a minority of voters vote, the voice of a community or region is not reflected in results. Furthermore, because certain regions are heavily skewed toward a single political party, the only meaningful choice that voters have to hold elected officials to account is during primaries.
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