(Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
Gerrymandering has sucked the suspense out of most of North Carolina’s congressional races. The winners in 13 of 14 congressional district races were essentially decided last spring after the primaries.
Republicans in the state legislature drew the congressional districts to produce 10 or 11 Republican winners and three or four Democratic winners. The First Congressional District was the only competitive district.
Districts drawn by a court for the 2022 election resulted in a 7-7, Democrat-Republican split in the state’s congressional delegation. A 2023 decision by a new Republican majority on the state Supreme Court allowed Republicans in the legislature to create districts to their liking.
In the one competitive race in the state — the First District in eastern North Carolina, Democratic incumbent Don David led Republican challenger Laurie Buckhout by 49.7% to 47.6% at 10:57 p.m. Libertarian Tom Bailey had 2.7%.
In the Second District , the Associated Press projects that incumbent Democrat Deborah Ross of Raleigh won a third term, defeating Republican Alan Swain of Raleigh and Green Party candidate Michael Dublin of Garner. As of 10:30 p.m., Ross led Swain by a margin of 68% to 30%. Dublin had just under 2%.