2026 general election information is now live!
Christine E. Winward
Party:
Democrat
Incumbent:
No
Age:
Unable to verify
Previous experience in elected office:
None
Occupation:
Unable to verify
Description:
Winward says that she is running because she wants North Carolina to be "a state where children receive a quality education, workers of all kinds are valued, families can afford homes, and communities thrive as authentic reflections of the people who live there." She supports the reform of homeowner's association (HOA) laws because she believes they are restrictive, housing affordability and increased investment in K-12 education, higher education and trade schools. On her social media, she is also critical of surveillance (e.g. Flock) cameras. She says on her website that she started fostering dogs in the 2020s and that experience gave her insight into "the broader issues behind the crisis—rising housing costs, rent increases, restrictive leases, and a rising cost of living that forces families to make heartbreaking decisions."
Other personal:
Winward lives in Waxhaw, in Union County. Her LinkedIn profile says she works in the financial services industry. She has also served in the Army National Guard and was deployed to Iraq during her time in the military. She moved to North Carolina in 2022 and told the News & Observer that she was an unaffiliated voter but registered as a Republican at the time because she thought she needed to pick a party to vote in the primary she wanted to influence. She said on social media in late August that she was pregnant and expecting a chid. She also has two young children. She is an endurance runner; she says she completed a 100-mile run in 2020. She has an associate's degree from Polk State College and a bachelor's from the University of Florida where she was also participated in Army ROTC.