Democrats win seats drawn for Republicans as North Carolina's House delegation nears a flip

The Associated Press has called five US House races in North Carolina for Democrats, all of them in districts that were drawn to favour Republican candidates.

Four of those districts are flipping from Republican to Democratic control.

As of Thursday, the AP had called nine of the state's 14 House seats for Democrats and none for Republicans. The delegation went into Tuesday's vote with 10 Republicans and four Democrats, which makes the result startling by comparison.

The state's congressional map was redrawn in 2023 to significantly favour Republican candidates, and the districts performed that way in 2024. The 14th District was the closest that year, won by Moore by about 16 percent, while the 6th District was the least competitive, won by McDowell by more than 38 percent.

In the race for the state's open US Senate seat, former Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, won by nearly 20 percent.

Georgia Republican Representative Brian Jack, one of the candidates seeking to replace Hudson as NRCC chair, wrote in a letter to fellow House Republicans that GOP lawmakers themselves may have contributed to the difficult environment. 'When Senate Republicans withdrew support from North Carolina weeks ago, they created a cascade that likely swept away many of our colleagues from that state,' he wrote.

The AP also called northeastern North Carolina's 1st Congressional District on Thursday for incumbent Democratic Representative Don Davis.

State legislative Republicans redrew that district last year to make it easier for GOP candidates to win, pulling Republican-leaning counties from the state's 3rd Congressional District to do so. Even so, as of Thursday Davis was leading Republican challenger Laurie Buckhout by more than 10,000 votes — a larger margin than he won by in 2024.

Five seats in the state remain uncalled. One is the 3rd Congressional District, where incumbent Republican Greg Murphy leads Democrat Raymond Smith by just 233 votes, in a district where Democrats did not even run a candidate in 2024. That race is likely headed for a recount.

In the 5th Congressional District, Democratic challenger Chuck Hubbard leads 11-term Republican incumbent Virginia Foxx by 99 votes — another race that may go to a recount.

If all the remaining results hold, the state's congressional delegation would flip from 10 Republicans and four Democrats to 10 Democrats and four Republicans.