How North Carolina Democrats flipped several House seats in historically GOP districts

Supporters watch Democratic senatorial candidate Roy Cooper speak during an election night event in Raleigh, N.C. on November 3, 2026. A.M STEWART/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

The Associated Press has called five U.S. House races in North Carolina for Democrats, all of them in districts drawn to favor Republican candidates.

Of those districts, four are flipping from Republican control.

As of Thursday, the AP had called nine of the state's 14 House seats for Democrats and none for Republicans. It's a startling result for a delegation that went into Tuesday with 10 Republicans and four Democrats.

North Carolina's Congressional map was redrawn in 2023 to significantly favor Republican candidates, and these four districts performed that way in 2024. The 14th District was the closest in that election, with Moore winning by about 16%, while the Sixth District was the least competitive, with McDowell winning by more than 38%.

One of the candidates vying to replace Hudson as NRCC chair is U.S. Rep. Brian Jack, a Georgia Republican.

He wrote in a letter to fellow House Republicans that fellow GOP lawmakers may have contributed to the challenging environment. Former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, won the race for North Carolina's open U.S. Senate seat by nearly 20%.