The 2018 North Carolina Senate elections elected 50 members to serve in the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

for a two-year term starting in January 2019. The Democratic Party gained 6 seats in this election, ending the Republican

supermajority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

that they had held since 2011 in the state senate. 52.98% of registered voters cast ballots in this election, marking the highest turnout for a midterm election in North Carolina since 1990.

Results summary

† - Incumbent not seeking re-election

Close races

''Districts where the margin of victory was under 10%:'' #District 9, 0.27% (gain) #District 19, 0.74% (gain) #District 27, 1.04% (gain) #District 18, 2.55% #District 17, 4.25% (gain) #District 39, 5.78% #District 1, 6.42% #District 3, 7.72% #District 24, 7.72% #District 7, 7.8%

Incumbents defeated in primary election

* Shirley B. Randleman (R-District 30), lost a redistricting race to

Deanna Ballard Deanna Ballard (born October 2, 1978) is an American politician served in the North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representa ...

(R-District 45) *

Dan Barrett Dan Barrett is an American musician from Connecticut, New England. He is a member of the rock duo Have a Nice Life. Outside of this, he has released solo work primarily under the names Giles Corey and Black Wing. In 2003, he founded the record labe ...

(R-District 34), lost a redistricting race to

Joyce Krawiec Joyce Krawiec (born June 14, 1945) is an American politician who has served in the North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Repre ...

(R-District 31) * Joel Ford (D-District 38), defeated by Mujtaba Mohammed (D) * David L. Curtis (R-District 44), defeated by

Ted Alexander Theodore R. Alexander (September 15, 1912 – March 6, 1999) was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues. Biography Alexander was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He played with several teams from 1938 to 1949, playing mostly with th ...

(R)

Incumbents defeated in general election

Michael V. Lee Michael Vincent Lee (born November 29, 1968) is a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the North Carolina State Senate. Lee was first appointed to office in August 2014 replacing Thom Goolsby. He was re-elected at the North Ca ...

(R-District 9), defeated by

Harper Peterson Harper Peterson Jr. (born December 16, 1948) is a former Democratic member of the North Carolina State Senate, representing the 9th district. He was elected in the 2018 elections. Peterson formerly served as Mayor of Wilmington, North Carolina ...

(D) * Tamara P. Barringer (R-District 17), defeated by

Sam Searcy Samuel Lee Searcy is an American politician who was a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's 17th Senate district from 2019 until his resignation in 2020. Career Searcy defeated Tamara Barringer on N ...

(D) *

Wesley Meredith Wesley Alan Meredith (born December 22, 1963) is a former Republican senator in the North Carolina General Assembly in the state's nineteenth Senatorial district. In 2018 he lost the election to Democrat Kirk DeViere. The 19th district is made up ...

(R-District 19), defeated by

Kirk deViere Kirk Joseph deViere (born January 27, 1970) is a former Democratic member of the North Carolina State Senate, having representing the 19th district from 2019 to 2023. He was first elected in the 2018 elections, defeating incumbent state senator ...

(D) *

Trudy Wade Trudy Wade (born July 18, 1951) is an American politician who served in the North Carolina Senate from the 27th district from 2013 to 2019. She represented the state's twenty-seventh Senate district, which consists of Guilford County, North Carol ...

(R-District 27), defeated by Michael Garrett (D) *

Jeff Tarte Jeff Tarte (born September 1, 1956) is an American politician who served in the North Carolina Senate from the 41st district from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Tarte was defeated by Democrat Natasha Marcus Natasha Rath Marcus ...

(R-District 41), defeated by

Natasha Marcus Natasha Rath Marcus (born April 27, 1969) is a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's 41st Senate district. Biography Marcus earned her bachelor's degree in public policy from Hamilton College and her J ...

(D)

Open seats that changed parties

Jay Chaudhuri Jay Chaudhuri (born August 6, 1969) is an American attorney, professor, politician and a Democratic member of the North Carolina Senate. First appointed to fill a vacancy in April 2016 caused by the resignation of Josh Stein (to run for North ...

(D-District 16) instead ran in the 15th district, seat won by

Wiley Nickel George Wiley Nickel III (born November 23, 1975) is an American attorney and Democratic politician serving as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 13th congressional district since 2023. Nickel served as a member of the North Carolina Se ...

(D)

Detailed results

Districts 1–25

District 1

Incumbent Republican

Bill Cook William Osser Xavier Cook (October 8, 1895 – May 5, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played for the Saskatoon Crescents of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey Le ...

has represented the

1st district The Innere Stadt (; Central Bavarian: ''Innare Stod'') is the 1st municipal district of Vienna () located in the center of the Austrian capital. The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expanded in 1850, the Inn ...

since 2013.
Cook didn't seek re-election. Representative

Bob Steinburg Bob Steinburg (born July 30, 1948) is a former Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly. He served 3 terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives and 1.5 terms in the North Carolina Senate. Early life, education, marriage ...

won the open seat.

District 2

Incumbent Republican

Norman W. Sanderson Norman Wesley Sanderson Jr. (born July 7, 1951) is a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly, representing the state's second Senate district, which includes Carteret, Craven, Pamlico counties. Sanderson was formerly a member ...

has represented the 2nd district since 2013.

District 3

Incumbent Democrat Erica Smith has represented the 3rd district since 2015.

District 4

Incumbent Democrat

Toby Fitch Milton Frederick "Toby" Fitch Jr. (born October 20, 1946) is a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic former member of the North Carolina State Senate. He is a retired North Carolina Superior Court Judge, serving from 2002 to 2018. Fitch al ...

has represented the 4th district since 2018.
Fitch won his first full term.

District 5

Incumbent Democrat Don Davis has represented the 5th district since 2013 and previously from 2009 to 2011.

District 6

Incumbent Republican Majority Leader Harry Brown has represented the 6th district since 2004.
District 6 had the lowest number of votes cast in any district election in 2018.

District 7

Incumbent Republican Louis M. Pate Jr. has represented the 7th district and its predecessors since 2011.

District 8

Incumbent Republican

Bill Rabon William Peter Rabon (born July 6, 1951) is a Republican member of the North Carolina State Senate, and a veterinarian. He is the Chairman of the Rules and Operations of the Senate committee, the Select Committee on Nominations, and the Finance C ...

has represented the 8th district since 2011.

District 9

Incumbent Republican Michael Lee has represented the 9th district since 2014.
Lee was defeated for re-election by Democrat

District 10

Incumbent Republican

Brent Jackson Brent Jackson is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Wolverine'' #163 and was created by Frank Tieri and Sean Chen. Fictional character biography Brent Montgomery Jackson ...

has represented the 10th district since 2011.

District 11

Incumbent Republican

Rick Horner Richard Paul Horner (born July 2, 1957) is an American politician. He was elected to the North Carolina State Senate in 2016. A Republican, he serves the 11th district. Horner graduated from East Carolina University, where he was a member of Ta ...

has represented the 11th district since 2017.

District 12

Incumbent Republican Ronald Rabin has represented the 12th district since 2013.
Rabin didn't seek re-election. Republican

Jim Burgin James Andrew "Jim" Burgin (born May 20, 1956) is a Republican member of the North Carolina State Senate, representing the 12th district. He was elected in the 2018 elections. Burgin previously on the Harnett County Board of Commissioners. Politic ...

won the open seat.

District 13

Incumbent Republican

Danny Britt Danny Earl Britt Jr. (born July 6, 1979) is a Republican member of the North Carolina Senate, having represented the 24th district and its predecessors since 2017. He is a Lt. Colonel in the North Carolina Army National Guard The North Carolina ...

has represented the 13th district since 2017.

District 14

Incumbent Democrat

Dan Blue Daniel Terry Blue Jr. (born April 18, 1949) is an American politician and attorney serving as a member of the North Carolina Senate, representing the state's 14th Senate district, and is the Senate minority leader. Early life and education Bl ...

has represented the 14th district since 2009.

District 15

Following redistricting, the old 16th district became the new 15th district.
Incumbent Democrat

who has represented the 16th district since 2016, successfully sought re-election here. Brian Lewis won the highest percentage vote of any

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

State Senate candidate in 2018 with 3.61%.

District 16

Following redistricting, the new 16th district is an open seat which is expected to favor Democrats.
Brian Irving won the highest number of votes of any

State Senate candidate in 2018 with 3,382 votes.

District 17

Incumbent Republican Tamara P. Barringer has represented the 17th district since 2013. Following redistricting, this seat was made more competitive.
Barringer lost re-election to Democrat

District 18

Following redistricting, Incumbent Republicans

Chad Barefoot John Chadwick "Chad" Barefoot (born May 10, 1983) is a former Republican member of the North Carolina Senate, representing North Carolina's 18th Senate district from 2013 to 2018. Senate District 18 covers Franklin County and parts of eastern a ...

and John M. Alexander Jr. had their homes both drawn into the new 18th district. The new 18th district, unlike the former 15th and 18th districts, is a competitive district which isn't safe for either party.

retired, while John M. Alexander Jr. narrowly won re-election.
The election in District 18 had the highest number of votes cast of any district election in the 2018 elections.

District 19

Incumbent Republican

has represented the 19th district since 2011.
Meredith lost re-election to Democrat

District 20

Incumbent Democrat

Floyd McKissick Jr. Floyd Bixler McKissick Jr. (born November 21, 1952) is an American attorney who served as a Democratic member of the North Carolina Senate. He was appointed to the Senate by Governor Mike Easley on April 18, 2007 to replace the late Jeanne Hopki ...

has represented the 20th district since 2007.

District 21

Incumbent Democrat Ben Clark has represented the 21st district since 2013.

District 22

Incumbent Democrat Mike Woodard has represented the 22nd district since 2013.

District 23

Incumbent Democrat

Valerie Foushee Valerie Jean Foushee (née Paige; born May 7, 1956) is an American politician who is a representative-elect to the U.S. House of Representatives and is currently serving as a Democratic member of the North Carolina Senate. Elected to the North ...

has represented the 23rd district since 2013.

District 24

Incumbent Republican

Rick Gunn Rick Gunn (born March 5, 1958) is an American politician who has served in the North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Represen ...

has represented the 24th district since 2011.

District 25

Incumbent Republican Tom McInnis has represented the 25th district since 2015.

Districts 26–50

District 26

Following redistricting, the old 29th district became the new 26th district.
Incumbent Republican Jerry W. Tillman, who has represented the 29th district since 2003, successfully sought re-election here.

District 27

Incumbent Republican

has represented the 27th district since 2013.
Wade lost re-election to Democrat Michael Garrett.

District 28

Incumbent Democrat

Gladys A. Robinson Gladys Ashe Robinson (born November 17, 1949) is a health services executive and serves as a Democratic State Senator for the 28th district (parts of Guilford County, North Carolina) in the North Carolina General Assembly. She serves as a Deputy ...

has represented the 28th district since 2011. This district had the largest margin of any district election in 2018.

District 29

Following redistricting, the new 29th district overlaps with much of the former 33rd district. Incumbent Republican

Cathy Dunn Cathy Dunn (born May 16, 1949) is an American politician who served in the North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representat ...

, who has represented the 33rd district since 2017, didn't seek re-election.

Eddie Gallimore Johnny Edward Gallimore (born 1964) is a former Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** ...

defeated representative

Sam Watford Sam Watford was a Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology ...

to win the Republican nomination and easily won the general election.

District 30

Following redistricting, most of the old 26th district became the new 30th district. Incumbent Republican president Pro Tempore Phil Berger, who has represented the 26th district and its predecessors since 2001, successfully sought re-election here.

District 31

Incumbent Republicans

, who has represented the 31st district since 2014, and

, who has represented the 34th district since his appointment in August 2017, sought re-election here. Krawiec narrowly defeated Barrett in the Republican primary and then she easily won the general election.

District 32

Incumbent Democrat Paul A. Lowe Jr. has represented the 32nd district since 2015.

District 33

After redistricting, the old 33rd district became the new 29th district, and a new 33rd district was created.
The new district includes Rowan County and Stanly County. State representative Carl Ford was the Republican nominee.

District 34

Incumbent Republican

has represented the 34th district since his appointment in August 2017. Barrett chose to seek re-election in the 31st district after his home in Davie County was drawn into that district. The new 34th district includes Iredell and Yadkin counties and is expected to favor Republicans. Republican

Vickie Sawyer Victoria Burgess Sawyer (born ) is a Republican member of the North Carolina Senate. She represents the Senate's 37th district which includes Iredell and Mecklenburg Counties. Sawyer was previously appointed to serve in the Senate for District 34 ...

was elected to a full term here, though after already winning the GOP primary for this seat, she had been appointed to serve the balance of David L. Curtis's term in the 44th district.

District 35

Incumbent Republican Tommy Tucker has represented the 35th district since 2011.
Tucker didn't seek re-election.

District 36

Incumbent Republican Paul Newton has represented the 36th district since 2017.

District 37

Incumbent Democrat Jeff Jackson has represented the 37th district since 2014.

District 38

Incumbent Democrat Joel D. M. Ford has represented the 38th district since 2013.
Ford lost the Democratic primary to Mujtaba Mohammed, who easily won the general election.

District 39

Incumbent Republican

Dan Bishop James Daniel Bishop (born July 1, 1964) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2019, when the district was numbered as the 9th. A Republican, his district includes south-central Mecklenburg, Union, ...

has represented the 39th district since 2017.

District 40

Incumbent Democrat

Joyce Waddell Joyce Waddell (born July 11, 1944) is an American politician who has served in the North Carolina Senate from the 40th district since 2015. References

1944 births Living people Democratic Party North Carolina state senators Place ...

has represented the 40th district since 2015.

District 41

Incumbent Republican

has represented the 41st district since 2013.
Tarte lost re-election to Democrat

District 42

Incumbent Republican Andy Wells has represented the 42nd district since 2015.

District 43

Incumbent Republican

Kathy Harrington Kathy Harrington (born December 24, 1958) is an American politician who has served in the North Carolina Senate from the 43rd district since 2011. She was elected Senate Majority Leader by her Republican colleagues following the 2020 elections - m ...

has represented the 43rd district since 2011.

District 44

Incumbent Republican David L. Curtis has represented the 44th district since 2013.
Curtis lost re-nomination to fellow Republican

. Curtis resigned before the end of his term and

was appointed to replace him. Alexander easily won the open seat here, while Sawyer was simultaneously elected to the newly created 34th district which contained her home.

District 45

Following redistricting, incumbent Republicans

and Shirley B. Randleman had both of their homes drawn into the 45th district. The district was more Ballard's district than Randleman's, and Ballard defeated Randleman in the Republican primary. Ballard easily won the general election.

District 46

Incumbent Republican

Warren Daniel Warren Daniel is an American politician who has served in the North Carolina Senate since 2011. He is a graduate of Freedom High School and the United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known meton ...

has represented the 46th district and its predecessors since 2011.

District 47

Incumbent Republican

Ralph Hise Ralph E. Hise, Jr. (born August 15, 1976) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represents District 47 in the North Carolina Senate. Hise joined the Senate in 2011 after winning election on November 2, 2010. He is from ...

has represented the 47th district since 2011.

District 48

Incumbent Republican

Chuck Edwards Charles Marion Edwards (born September 13, 1960) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 11th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he represented the 48th district in the ...

has represented the 48th district since 2016.

District 49

Incumbent Democrat

Terry Van Duyn Teresa Van Duyn (born September 21, 1951) is a former Democratic member of the North Carolina Senate. She represented District 49, which encompasses most of Asheville and Buncombe County, North Carolina from 2014 until 2021. Early life and educ ...

has represented the 49th district since 2014.

District 50

Incumbent Republican Jim Davis has represented the 50th district since 2011.

Notes

References

{{Reflist North Carolina Senate elections

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...