Results and Takeaways from North Carolina’s March 3 Primaries

Updated March 24, 2026, with certified results from the NC State Board of Elections, including the final outcome in Senate District 26.

On election night, 59 out of 60 General Assembly primary races were called. The exception was Senate District 26, where Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page defeated Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger by 23 votes after a recount. Berger conceded on March 24.

As expected, Michael Whatley won the Republican primary handily, as did former Governor Roy Cooper in the Democratic primary. In Congressional District 1, Republican Laurie Buckhout edged out Asa Buck on her way to a rematch with Democrat Don Davis. In Congressional District 4, Valerie Foushee won her rematch against Nida Allam. In Congressional District 11, Jamie Ager won the Democratic primary convincingly and will take on Chuck Edwards in November.

Below, we will share all of the legislative results for easy reference. But first, here are some of the top statistics:

• Nine incumbents were defeated, including 3 Democrats and 6 Republicans: Shelly Willingham (D), Nasif Majeed (D), Carla D. Cunningham (D), Reece Pyrtle (R), Keith Kidwell (R), Kelly Hastings (R), Mark Pless (R), Chris Measmer (R), and Phil Berger (R).
• Statewide turnout was 1,505,264 out of 7,664,465, or 19.64%. In the U.S. Senate primaries, there were 827,755 votes on the Democratic side and 627,404 on the Republican side.
• NCFREE correctly called 57 out of 60 of the races, excluding tossups, showing strong predictive value.

Highest Turnout Legislative Races

Senate Primaries

• SD-22 (D): Chitlik vs. Freeman: 34,707 votes
• SD-26 (R): Page vs. Berger: 26,247 votes
• SD-30 (R): Jarvis vs. Gallimore: 20,396 votes

House Primaries

• HD-90 (R): Kiger vs. Barker: 14,368 votes
• HD-79 (R): Armstrong vs. Kidwell: 14,246 votes
• HD-50 (D): Price vs. Lucas: 13,767 votes

Average Turnout by Chamber and Party

House Primaries

• Republicans: 8,098 votes per race across 28 primaries
• Democrats: 8,255 votes per race across 16 primaries

Senate Primaries

• Republicans: 15,277 votes per race across 11 primaries
• Democrats: 18,360 votes per race across 4 primaries

Average Margins for Each NCFREE Race Designation

Tossup: 14.77%; Tilt: 21.29%; Lean: 35.81%; Likely: 36.76%; Safe: 68.40%

Legislative Primary Results

House Primaries

District	Party	Race	Winner	Runner-up	Margin (%)
HD-1	Republican	Goodwin vs Spruill	Edward C. Goodwin	John C. Spruill	5.07%
HD-4	Republican	Dixon vs Barbour	Jimmy Dixon	Marcella Barbour	63.37%
HD-6	Democratic	Spears vs Estep	Tony Spears	Joshua P. Estep	20.76%
HD-6	Republican	Pike vs Morris	Joe Pike	W. H. (Bill) Morris	6.56%
HD-9	Democratic	Kempner vs Brown	Claire Kempner	Lenton Brown	34.49%
HD-16	Republican	Smith vs Patti	Carson Smith	Joshua Patti	52.89%
HD-17	Republican	Iler vs Moore	Frank Iler	Nia Moore	48.78%
HD-22	Republican	Jackson vs Kivett	Wellie Jackson	Jerol Kivett	54.41%
HD-23	Democratic	Smith vs Willingham	Patricia Smith	Shelly Willingham	11.35%
HD-25	Democratic	Wilkins vs Walker	Lorenza M. Wilkins	Harris Walker	14.10%
HD-26	Republican	White vs Riedel	Donna McDowell White	Margie Beth Riedel	40.97%
HD-27	Democratic	Pierce vs Wray	Rodney D. Pierce	Michael H. Wray	28.34%
HD-28	Republican	Strickland vs Bowles	Larry C. Strickland	Eric Bowles, Sr.	78.19%
HD-32	Democratic	McRae vs Elliott	Curtis McRae	Melissa Elliott	27.41%
HD-32	Republican	Sossamon vs Ayscue	Frank Sossamon	Pamela M. Ayscue	76.88%
HD-35	Republican	Schietzelt vs Joyner-Dinwiddie	Mike Schietzelt	Michele Joyner-Dinwiddie	81.97%
HD-37	Democratic	Decker vs Gadson vs Clements	Winn Decker	Marcus Gadson	12.33%
HD-38	Democratic	Jones vs Fearns	Abe Jones	Collin Fearns	39.31%
HD-43	Democratic	Ackles vs Pittman	Janene Ackles	Ronald Pittman	34.07%
HD-43	Republican	Wheatley vs Goins	Diane Wheatley	Clarence Goins, Jr.	19.08%
HD-45	Democratic	Jackson vs Covington	Frances Jackson	QuDerrick R. Covington	20.03%
HD-48	Republican	Carter vs Lowery	Ralph Carter	Kirk Lowery	18.68%
HD-50	Democratic	Price vs Lucas vs Redd	Renee A. Price	Mary Lucas	51.91%
HD-51	Republican	Taylor vs Womack	Charles M. Taylor	Sherry Lynn Womack	8.32%
HD-55	Republican	Baucom vs Powell vs Miller	Clancy Baucom	John Powell	65.32%
HD-59	Democratic	Hairston vs Hunt	Elma Hairston	C. Bradley Hunt II	18.52%
HD-60	Democratic	Cook vs Williams-McMichael vs Alston vs Davis	Amanda Cook	Angie Williams-McMichael	12.86%
HD-65	Republican	Woodall vs Pyrtle vs Gibson	Seth Woodall	Reece Pyrtle	18.35%
HD-67	Democratic	Torres vs Howell	Jocelyn Torres	Roddrick Howell	32.86%
HD-73	Democratic	Monks vs DeLaney	N/A	N/A	N/A
HD-78	Republican	Neal Jackson vs Dutton	Neal Jackson	Mark Dutton	43.98%
HD-79	Republican	Armstrong vs Kidwell	Darren Armstrong	Keith Kidwell	4.58%
HD-80	Republican	Watford vs Byrne	Sam Watford	Joseph Byrne	48.78%
HD-81	Republican	Potts vs Zanni	Larry W. Potts	Pamela Zanni	66.28%
HD-89	Republican	Setzer vs Koperski	Mitchell Smith Setzer	Lisa Deaton Koperski	72.37%
HD-90	Republican	Kiger vs Barker vs Daoud	Dan Kiger	Paul Barker	15.94%
HD-95	Republican	Carver vs Kubiniec	Richard (Todd) Carver	Mike Kubiniec	18.92%
HD-99	Democratic	Levy vs Majeed vs Neal	Veleria M. Levy	Nasif Majeed	42.42%
HD-105	Republican	Cotham vs VanHorn	Tricia Ann Cotham	Kelly VanHorn	69.04%
HD-106	Democratic	Sadler vs Cunningham vs Bowman	Rodney Sadler	Carla D. Cunningham	48.19%
HD-110	Republican	Eason vs Hastings	Caroline Eason	Kelly Hastings	7.37%
HD-113	Republican	Johnson vs Hager	Jake Johnson	Mike Hager	22.16%
HD-117	Republican	Balkcom vs Wilson	Jennifer Capps Balkcom	Christopher Lamar Wilson	52.37%
HD-118	Republican	Rogers vs Pless	James M. (Jimmy) Rogers	Mark Pless	9.41%
HD-119	Republican	Clampitt vs Ferguson vs Yow	Mike Clampitt	Anna Ferguson	19.25%

Senate Primaries

District	Party	Race	Winner	Runner-up	Margin (%)
SD-1	Republican	Tillett / Lane / Forsythe / Johnson	Jerry Tillett	Jay Lane	6.34%
SD-5	Republican	Hostetler vs Mitchell	Henry Hostetler	Angelene Mitchell	66.56%
SD-9	Republican	Jackson vs Barbour	Brent Jackson	William W. Barbour	59.08%
SD-10	Republican	Sawrey vs Marsh	Benton Sawrey	Caitlin Marsh	69.68%
SD-12	Democratic	Anderson vs Hardaway	Tanya White Anderson	Jheri Hardaway	35.24%
SD-12	Republican	Burgin vs McNeill	Jim Burgin	Tim McNeill	52.42%
SD-17	Republican	Johnson vs Al-Baghdadi	Shirley Johnson	Sarah Al-Baghdadi	80.19%
SD-18	Republican	Stock vs Caulfield	Chris Stock	Cheryl Caulfield	21.11%
SD-21	Republican	McInnis vs Daly	Tom McInnis	Ray Daly	46.54%
SD-22	Democratic	Chitlik vs Freeman	Sophia Chitlik	Dedreana Freeman	31.17%
SD-26	Republican	Page vs Berger	Sam Page	Phil Berger	0.09%
SD-30	Republican	Jarvis vs Gallimore	Steve Jarvis	Eddie Gallimore	51.13%
SD-32	Democratic	Lowe vs Henley	Paul Lowe, Jr.	Gardenia Henley	18.25%
SD-34	Republican	Crutchfield vs Measmer	Kevin Crutchfield	Chris Measmer	7.33%
SD-37	Democratic	Angel vs Bjorgen	Raygan J. Angel	Precinda Bjorgen	25.02%

Additional Developments to Watch

SD-26: Page wins after recount

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page won the Republican primary over Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, 13,135 votes to 13,112. The 23-vote margin held through a machine recount and a partial hand recount, and Berger conceded on March 24. Page will face Democrat Steve Luking in November.

Court of Appeals primary

Michael Byrne defeated Matt Smith in the Republican primary for the North Carolina Court of Appeals. The race drew significant attention from the legal and business communities given the court’s role in reviewing regulatory disputes and business litigation.

The work in this report reflects the nonpartisan, data-driven business intelligence and research NCFREE provides to its members throughout the election cycle.

In the News

Prior to the primaries, NCFREE Executive Director Alex Baltzegar joined the Do Politics Better podcast to preview key legislative races and discuss what they could mean for the business community.

In the coming weeks, NCFREE will be releasing more analysis, including campaign funding and additional context, to answer the question “What happened?” in each race. Some of this will be available only to NCFREE members.

Alex Baltzegar, Executive Director