NC Congressional Races

On Nov. 5 with more than 2,700 precincts reporting statewide, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis holds a small lead over Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham.

News report courtesy of Carolina Public Press –

The margin is fewer than 100,000 votes, and Cunningham would need much of the state’s outstanding 116,000 absentee-by-mail, military and provisional ballots to close the gap.

In the state’s 13 House districts, most races were not especially competitive despite redrawing of the state’s districts last year.

Democratic incumbent in District 1, G.K. Butterfield; Democratic newcomer Deborah Ross in District 2; Republican incumbent Greg Murphy in District 3; Democratic incumbent David Price in District 4; Republican incumbent Virginia Foxx in District 5; Democratic newcomer Kathy Manning in District 6; Democratic incumbent David Rouzer in District 7; Republican incumbent Richard Hudson in District 8; Republican incumbent Dan Bishop in District 9; Republican incumbent Patrick McHenry in District 10; and Republican incumbent Ted Budd in District 13 all appeared to have comfortable leads. Democratic incumbent Alma Adams was unopposed in District 12.

The anti-climactic result came in District 11, where Republican Madison Cawthorn won an easy victory in a race that had been flooded by money and attention from across the country.

Cawthorn gloated over his victory with a tweet at 9:24 p.m. Tuesday: “Cry more, lib.”

In a statement released around the same time to the news media, 25-year-old Cawthorn celebrated his accomplishment on being elected the youngest member of the new Congress.

“When I look at Western North Carolina, I don’t see a purple district,” he said. “I see red, white and blue. I see a proud, kind, decent and welcoming people who love our founding principles and are determined to make our imperfect union more perfect.

“I’m humbled and honored to bring these mountain values to Congress.”

For his part, Democrat Moe Davis thanked his campaign volunteers but acknowledged the decision of the voters to go with his opponent.

“We live in a divided America and a divided Western North Carolina,” Davis said. “It is now up to those elected to find a way to heal the divisions, seek common ground and work together to reduce poverty, increase access to health care and protection our precious environment.”

Cawthorn’s victory also drew the attention of Republicans nationally, who may seem him as a rising star.

“The people of North Carolina have sent a fighter to Washington,” said Tom Emmer, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, in a prepared statement.

“Madison has overcome challenges very few people have faced in life and will bring that spirit of determination to the halls of Congress.”

While control of the U.S. Senate is unclear, the U.S. House is expected to remain in Democratic hands, though Republicans appeared by early Wednesday to have picked up a net of several seats for a fairly evenly divided Congress if those projections hold.

Pollsters previously predicted Senate Democratic challenger Cunningham had a good chance to flip the seat from Republican Tillis.

Democrats had hoped to win this and enough other competitive Senate seats to win a majority in the U.S. Senate, which has been controlled by Republicans since the 2010 election. If the parties split the seats at 50 apiece, the party of the vice president, who breaks ties in the Senate, will have the majority.

As of 1 p.m. Thursday, national estimates placed control of the Senate as too close to predict with at least 47 seats in the hands of each part and the rest up for grabs. Two of the remaining seats are in Georgia, where at least one could be headed for a special election in early January. The North Carolina seat potentially could be one of the last to determine the count.

Tillis is a first-term senator holding a seat that has flipped between the parties each of the last two times it has come up for a vote. Cunningham would have liked to make that a third.

Tillis won the seat from Democrat Kay Hagan in 2014. Hagan won it from Republican Elizabeth Dole in 2008. She won the seat in 2002 after the retirement of five-term Republican Jesse Helms.

Kate Martin, Jordan Wilkie, Victoria Loe Hicks, Laura Lee and Frank Taylor contributed to this report.