Democrats topple powerful Republicans, flip congressional seats and take control of the N.C. House in a sweeping election-night victory
◼️ Democrats win N.C. House for first time since 2010
◼️ Rep. Tim Moore loses U.S. House seat to first-time candidate
◼️ Constitutional amendments and Mecklenburg bonds pass
by Tony Mecia, Rachel Black and Ashley Fahey The Charlotte Ledger and The Election Hub
Democrats in North Carolina made huge gains in Tuesday’s election, toppling several Republican members of Congress — including former N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore – and winning seats up and down the ballot.
In a night when Democrats won the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, with big wins all around the country, they also won control of the N.C. House for the first time since 2010 and appeared to come within one vote of taking the N.C. Senate.
At the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party’s election night watch party at Lenny Boy Brewing near South End, cheers ricocheted off the warehouse building’s walls and high ceilings, amplifying what was already a loud show of enthusiasm.
“We turned the mother out!” said newly reelected Rep. Alma Adams during her victory speech.
Asked to explain the Democrats’ strong showing, former N.C. Rep. Wesley Harris, who chairs the Meck Dems, said: “Frustration. Anger. People are just tired.”
Leading up to Tuesday, experts were predicting a strong night for Democrats, but it was uncertain how widespread the gains would be.
As it turned out, it was big – and on a scale that almost nobody had forecast.
Voters said Tuesday that they were eager for change.
At the McCrorey YMCA in west Charlotte, retired Charlotte Area Transit System employee Dwayne Curenton, 64, said new voting restrictions and gerrymandering made him fired up to go vote — and that his friends and family members feel the same way.
And he said he doesn’t like how billionaires like Elon Musk are getting richer while middle-class Americans are suffering.
“The economy has caused a lot of stress on people,” he said.
At Community House Middle School in Ballantyne, unaffiliated voter Jessica Cole, 34, said she voted for Democrats throughout her ballot to achieve change.
She said the issues that are most important to her are affordability and healthcare. She also said that since she has transgender family members, protecting their rights is also important to her and added that “ICE being in the community has been very upsetting to me.”
National themes
Political scientists have routinely noted that the party that holds the White House almost always loses seats in Congress in midterm elections like Tuesday’s.
National politics has trickled down to state and local elections for decades, but researchers have found that the connection has become stronger in recent years. Elections for state and local offices, including in North Carolina, are increasingly shaped by national dynamics.
“North Carolina elections, I think, often reflect a lot of what is going on nationally,” Catawba College political scientist Michael Bitzer told the Rotary Club of Charlotte on Tuesday. “… We know that oftentimes, elections are nationalized.”
The problem for Republicans, Bitzer said, was President Donald Trump’s approval rating, which, at around 30%, is approaching some of the lowest levels recorded for any president since World War II.
Those dynamics combined to create a historic night for Democrats, who took control of the U.S. House and Senate. In Texas, Kansas and even neighboring South Carolina, they won seats that had not been held by a Democrat for decades.
In North Carolina, Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper easily beat Republican Michael Whatley, 59%-39%, to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from North Carolina in 18 years.
And Democrats picked up an open seat in the N.C. mountains while handing losses to Republican U.S. Reps. Richard Hudson and Brad Knott. And longtime Rep. Virginia Foxx trails by 99 votes in a race that appears headed to a recount. That could turn what had been a 10-4 Republican-Democrat divide into as big as a 9-5 Democratic-Republican advantage.
Moore loses in seat considered safe
But the biggest local surprise of the night was Moore, who lost his re-election bid for a district that includes the western edge of Mecklenburg and counties to the west against a first-time candidate, Democrat LaKesha Womack. He won in 2024 by 16 percentage points.
Moore, who was once one of the most powerful political leaders in the state and was its longest-serving House speaker, lost Tuesday by about 6,400 votes, or 2 points, to Womack, a little-known community organizer and ordained minister.
The seat was not expected to be competitive. (The Election Hub’s Rachel Black wrote a profile of Womack last month, which should now be required reading about the Charlotte area’s newest congresswoman.)
The flipping of Republican-held congressional seats Tuesday was a stunning reversal, especially after the Republican-controlled legislature redrew election maps in 2023 to favor candidates of their party.
The General Assembly redrew the lines again in 2025 to improve the odds of electing a Republican in northeastern North Carolina's 1st Congressional District. The Democrat in that district, Don Davis, won on Tuesday.
Republican legislators also redrew the maps for N.C. House and Senate districts in 2023 to improve their chances.
But on Tuesday, Democrats won control of the N.C. House, picking up at least 17 seats, with some still too close to call. It would be the biggest Democratic surge in the N.C. House since 1974, when Democrats picked up 25 seats in the aftermath of Watergate.
Democratic victories included the southern Mecklenburg seat represented by Tricia Cotham, who infuriated Democrats in 2023 by joining forces with Moore and switching to the Republican Party. Cotham lost Tuesday to former Matthews commissioner Ken McCool.
Winning the N.C. House and coming within a whisker of winning the N.C. Senate should usher in new priorities in Raleigh, especially with Democratic Gov. Josh Stein in office. The switch could mean elevating the priorities of urban areas and changes in spending, appointments to state boards and commissions and committee leadership. The new N.C. House speaker is expected to be Robert Reives, of Chatham and Randolph counties, between the Triangle and the Triad.
Cotham’s loss continues a longer-term trend of having fewer Republicans elected in Mecklenburg. Democrats now control 18 of 19 state legislative seats, 10 of 11 City Council seats plus all nine county commissioner seats.
If there was a silver lining for N.C. Republicans, it was that the constitutional amendments they favored — beefing up photo ID requirements for voting and limiting state income taxes and local property taxes — passed easily.
Republicans might now pursue other measures between now and January, when larger numbers of Democrats arrive in Raleigh to take office.
Tony Mecia is The Ledger’s executive editor. Reach him at tony@cltledger.com.
Tuesday’s election results, at a glance:
Election results as of 5:45 a.m. on Wednesday:
U.S. Senate: Control of the U.S. Senate switched to Democrats. Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper beat Republican Michael Whatley, 59%-39%
U.S. House: Control of the U.S. House switched to Democrats. In the Charlotte area, incumbent Republican Tim Moore lost to Democrat LaKesha Womack, while two other incumbents, Democrat Alma Adams and Republican Mark Harris, won.
General Assembly:
◦ N.C. Senate: Republicans appear to cling to a one-seat lead, 25-24, with one race to call, according to WRAL. In Charlotte, Sen. Woodson Bradley beat Republican opponent Stacie McGinn. ◦ N.C. House: Democrats won control, 66-48, with six races left to call, according to WRAL. Democratic Matthews commissioner Ken McCool defeated Republican incumbent Tricia Cotham.
N.C. Supreme Court: Democratic incumbent Anita Earls beat Republican Sarah Stevens, which keeps Republicans with a 5-2 majority on the court.
N.C. Court of Appeals: Democrats John Arrowood, Toby Hampson and Christine Marie Walczyk won. Republicans will continue to hold 12 of the 15 seats on the Court of Appeals.
N.C. constitutional amendments: Voters approved all three constitutional amendments, which require photo IDs for voting, cap the state’s income tax rate and require limits on local property tax increases.
Mecklenburg County commissioners: Democrats won all races, maintaining their 9-0 advantage.
Bonds: Voters approved bonds in Charlotte for transportation, housing and neighborhood improvements.
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