Democrats have extended their midterm dominance in North Carolina, notching four more victories — including three flips — in districts affected by Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting push last year.
Democrats Cyril Jefferson, Paul Barringer and Lakesha Womack upset incumbent Republican Reps. Addison McDowell, Brad Knott and Tim Moore, respectively. Elsewhere in the state, two-term Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) defeated Republican Laurie Buckhout in the state’s redrawn 1st District. Democrats have now won eight House seats in North Carolina and could still win two more, despite an October 2025 map redraw that favored Republicans in 11 of the state’s 14 seats.
The wins reinforce Democrats’ yawning House majority, which the party secured relatively early Tuesday, as voters punish President Donald Trump and the GOP for sky-high prices and the continued war in Iran.
Davis’ redrawn district favored Trump by more than 11 points in 2024, and he currently leads it by 10,000 votes with 1% of the vote left to count.
The party flipped several more high-profile seats in other states, The Associated Press projected Thursday, with physician Amish Shah besting former NFL kicker Jay Feely in Arizona’s open 1st District. Democrats have long coveted the suburban Phoenix seat, held in recent years by GOP Rep. David Schweikert.
In Virginia, Democratic prosecutor Shannon Taylor flipped a district represented by GOP Rep. Rob Wittman since 2007.
Sam Forstag, a former smokejumper, became the first Democrat to win a House seat in Montana in decades, claiming victory in a district the president won by nearly 12 points two years ago.
Republicans were still able to hold a handful of seats in longtime ruby-red territory, albeit by significantly smaller margins than expected. New York GOP Reps. Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota scraped victories in their Long Island districts. So too did Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.), Matt Van Epps (R-Tenn.), John McGuire (R-Va.) and Blake Moore (R-Utah).
Â
