North Carolina's 14th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 3 Democratic primary)

North Carolina redrew its congressional district boundaries in October 2025. Voters will elect representatives under the new map in 2026. Click here to read more about mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections.

← 2024
North Carolina's 14th Congressional District
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: December 19, 2025
Primary: March 3, 2026 Primary runoff: May 12, 2026 General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voting in North Carolina
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
North Carolina's 14th Congressional District U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th North Carolina elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House raceArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House raceFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House raceOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House raceTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House raceVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House raceSubmit

A Democratic Party primary took place on March 3, 2026, in North Carolina's 14th Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate would run in the district's general election on November 3, 2026.

Lakesha Womack advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 14.

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
December 19, 2025	March 3, 2026	November 3, 2026

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. North Carolina utilizes a semi-closed primary system. Parties decide who may vote in their respective primaries. Voters may choose a primary ballot without impacting their unaffiliated status.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on North Carolina's 14th Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

• North Carolina's 14th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 3 Republican primary)
• North Carolina's 14th Congressional District election, 2026

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 14

Lakesha Womack defeated Brent Caldwell and Ahmid Kargbo in the Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 14 on March 3, 2026.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lakesha Womack	52.2	20,586
		Brent Caldwell	41.8	16,496
		Ahmid Kargbo	6.0	2,351

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	There were no incumbents in this race. Source	Total votes: 39,433
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Brent Caldwell

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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Cheaper Groceries. Higher Wages. Stronger Families.

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Brent understands how inflation has strained working families. He will fight to lower the cost of living by opposing inflationary tariffs, cracking down on corporate price gouging, and strengthening antitrust enforcement against monopolies. Brent is committed to protecting the dignity of work through fair wages, retirement security, and stable incomes. He supports tax fairness by closing loopholes for billionaires and large corporations, while opposing tax increases on middle-class families. Brent will also work to give Americans more control over their time by expanding access to remote work and ensuring productivity gains from AI translate into higher worker pay.

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A general feeling our politics is corrupted undercut American confidence at home and tarnishes our reputation in the world. ​​ Brent worked as a fundraiser on statewide and Congressional campaigns and seen how fundraising has become the central focus of aspiring and elected leaders. This leads certain classes and special interests to have an outsized say in how our nation is governed. Brent supports capping individual campaign donations at no more than one percent of median household income and banning outside spending that drowns out the voices of district voters. He will also fight to outlaw partisan gerrymandering and ban insider trading by members of Congress.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House North Carolina District 14 in 2026.

Ahmid Kargbo

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "I am the proud son of West African immigrants and lived in Raleigh until I moved when was nine years old. I have lived in Huntersville ever since, where I attended Hopewell High School. While in college, I enrolled in the Year Up program, which launched my journey into corporate America, where I worked for three years. But even at a Fortune 500 company, I could not buy a home, and neither could many of my coworkers. After being laid off in late 2024, I decided to go back to school for urban planning and history. When I looked at the candidates in the upcoming election, I didn't see anyone pushing forward any policies that were meeting the severity of the moment, so I decided to run!"

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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I am running on a platform of economic populism with policies such as Medicare for All, free public college, and the Green New Deal. We need to challenge the power of billionaires and corporations with wealth taxes, providing a public option for telecommunications, and nationalizing utility monopolies like Duke Energy. Transformative populist policies are needed to match the scale of the problems facing Americans.

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I am the only candidate in favor of abolishing CBP, the DHS, and ICE. These rogue agencies are acting like secret police, intimidating and murdering citizens in the street. These agencies were created from the dissolution of the US Customs Service, after 9/11, in the image of the war on terror. We should abolish these agencies and reform them in the image of humane immigration enforcement. Tribunal-style commissions must be held to prosecute the leaders of these illegal operations and the masked thugs who support them.

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While none of the other candidates are putting forward bold policies, only Brent Caldwell does not there is a genocide happening in Palestine currently. America needs leaders with the moral clarity to call out the corruption and death caused and funded by our leaders, and Brent Caldwell is by far the worst candidate. Americans are yearning for leaders who have the moral clarity to call out the destruction funded by our country, and we cannot keep electing leaders who deny what the majority of the party can see as a clear genocide we must stop funding.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House North Carolina District 14 in 2026.

Lakesha Womack

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "LaKesha Womack is a Democratic candidate seeking the nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District. She currently serves as Chief Strategy Officer for ASPIRE Community Capital, an emerging Community Development Financial Institution focused on expanding access to capital for undercapitalized entrepreneurs. Womack is also the owner of Womack Consulting Group, where she has provided strategic advisory services to nonprofits, small businesses, faith-based organizations, and political campaigns for more than two decades. Her political experience includes working on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, serving on the Podium Operations Team for the 2024 Democratic National Convention, and acting as a strategist for local and state-level races. She has also facilitated civic engagement and voter education workshops to increase democratic participation. Womack is an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and a graduate of Vanderbilt University. She is pursuing a Master of Legal Studies at Vanderbilt Law School and has completed leadership and candidate training programs, including The Campaign School at Yale, Emerge America, and Lead NC. Her campaign priorities include affordable health care, economic mobility, equitable education, and strengthening democratic participation."

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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LaKesha believes affordable health care is a fundamental necessity, not a privilege. She supports lowering prescription drug costs, protecting reproductive freedom, expanding access to mental health services, and ensuring quality coverage through a universal health care plan. LaKesha is committed to protecting and strengthening rural hospitals that serve as lifelines for many communities in NC-14 and across the country. She also believes Congress must provide strong oversight of the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure patient safety, transparency, and accountability. Her approach centers on affordability, access, and dignity, so no family is forced to choose between their health and financial stability.

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LaKesha Womack believes economic mobility is essential to building strong families and resilient communities. She supports policies that expand access to capital for small businesses and entrepreneurs, strengthen workforce development, and promote fair wages so that work pays, and families can thrive. LaKesha emphasizes affordability as a core economic issue and supports making the first $100,000 of income free from federal income tax to put more money directly into the hands of working families. LaKesha emphasizes affordability as a core economic issue, recognizing that our economy works best when people can afford housing, childcare, food, and the goods and services that sustain local businesses and corporations.

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LaKesha Womack believes equitable education is foundational to economic opportunity and a healthy democracy. She supports fully funding public schools, closing funding gaps between districts, and ensuring students, regardless of their zip code, have access to fairly compensated teachers, modern facilities, and supportive learning environments. LaKesha champions affordable pathways to higher education and career training, including student debt relief, so education expands opportunity rather than creating lifelong financial burden. She believes a representative democracy thrives when its citizens are educated, equipped with strong critical-thinking skills, and empowered to make informed decisions about their future.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House North Carolina District 14 in 2026.

Voting information

See also: Voting in North Carolina

Election information in North Carolina: March 3, 2026, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

• In-person: Feb. 28, 2026
• By mail: Postmarked by Feb. 6, 2026
• Online: Feb. 6, 2026

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

Yes

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

• In-person: Feb. 17, 2026
• By mail: Received by Feb. 17, 2026
• Online: Feb. 17, 2026

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

• In-person: March 3, 2026
• By mail: Received by March 3, 2026

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Feb. 12, 2026 to Feb. 28, 2026

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

6:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. (ET)

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Brent Caldwell	Democratic Party	$72,859	$68,481	$4,378	As of February 11, 2026
Ahmid Kargbo	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Lakesha Womack	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

• District map - A map of the district before and after redistricting ahead of the 2026 election.
• Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 U.S. House elections in the state.
• Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
• State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

• District map
• Competitiveness
• Presidential elections
• State party control

Below is the district map used in the 2024 election next to the map in place for the 2026 election. Click on a map below to enlarge it.

2024

2026

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in North Carolina.

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in North Carolina in 2026. Information below was calculated on December 19, 2025., and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Sixty-seven candidates — 40 Democrats and 27 Republicans — ran for North Carolina’s 14 U.S. House districts. That’s 4.8 candidates per district. There were 4.6 candidates per district in 2024 and 7.14 in 2022. In 2020, when the state had 13 U.S. House districts, there were 4.9 candidates per district. There were 4.3 candidates in 2018, 5.7 in 2016, and 4.6 in 2014.

These were the first elections to take place since the General Assembly of North Carolina passed a new congressional map. The North Carolina Senate passed it on Oct. 21, 2025, and the North Carolina House of Representatives passed it Oct. 22, 2025.

No districts were open in 2026, meaning all incumbents — four Democrats and 10 Republicans — ran for re-election. The only other year since 2014 with no open districts was 2018.

Nineteen primaries — 11 Democratic and eight Republican — were contested in 2026. In total, there were 13 contested primaries in 2024, 22 in 2022, 13 in 2020, 17 in 2018, 16 in 2016, and 17 in 2014.

Eight candidates — six Democrats and two Republicans — ran for the 10th district, the most candidates who ran for a district in 2026.

Eight incumbents — two Democrats and six Republicans — faced a primary challenger in 2026. There were four incumbents in a contested primary in 2024, seven in 2022, three in 2020, eight in 2018, nine in 2016, and six in 2014.

Candidates filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all 14 districts, meaning no districts were guaranteed to either party.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+8. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 8 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made North Carolina's 14th the 157th most Republican district nationally.

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.

2024 presidential results in North Carolina's 14th Congressional District

Kamala Harris	Donald Trump
43.4%	54.4%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in North Carolina, 2024

North Carolina presidential election results (1900-2024)

• 18 Democratic wins
• 14 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024
Winning Party	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R

See also: Party control of North Carolina state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of North Carolina's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from North Carolina
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	0	4	4
Republican	2	10	12
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	14	16

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in North Carolina's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in North Carolina, October 2025

Office	Officeholder
Governor	Josh Stein
Lieutenant Governor	Rachel Hunt
Secretary of State	Elaine Marshall
Attorney General	Jeff Jackson

State legislature

North Carolina State Senate

Party		As of March 2026
	Democratic Party	20
	Republican Party	30
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		50

North Carolina House of Representatives

Party		As of March 2026
	Democratic Party	49
	Republican Party	70
	Other	0
	Vacancies	1
Total		120

Trifecta control

North Carolina Party Control: 1992-2025
Fourteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Four years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in North Carolina in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in North Carolina, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
North Carolina	U.S. House	Ballot-qualified party	5% of registered voters in the same party or 200, whichever is greater	$1,740	12/19/2025	Source
North Carolina	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	1.5% of all registered N.C. voters in the district, as of January 1 of the election year.	$1,740	12/19/2025	Source

See also

• North Carolina's 14th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 3 Republican primary)
• North Carolina's 14th Congressional District election, 2026
• United States House elections in North Carolina, 2026 (March 3 Democratic primaries)
• United States House elections in North Carolina, 2026 (March 3 Republican primaries)
• United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2026
• United States House Republican Party primaries, 2026
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2026
• U.S. House battlegrounds, 2026

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

North Carolina's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Ted Budd (R)

Thom Tillis (R)

Representatives

District 1

Donald Davis (D)

District 2

Deborah Ross (D)

District 3

Gregory Murphy (R)

District 4

Valerie Foushee (D)

District 5

Virginia Foxx (R)

District 6

Addison McDowell (R)

District 7

David Rouzer (R)

District 8

Mark Harris (R)

District 9

Richard Hudson (R)

District 10

Pat Harrigan (R)

District 11

Chuck Edwards (R)

District 12

Alma Adams (D)

District 13

Brad Knott (R)

District 14

Timothy Moore (R)

Republican Party (12)

Democratic Party (4)

2025-2026 Elections to the United States Congress

Senate by State

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House by State

Alabama • Alaska • American Samoa • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Guam • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Northern Mariana Islands • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • U.S. Virgin Islands • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

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Election information

Ballot access for major and minor party candidates • List of candidates running for election • List of congressional challengers • Retiring senators • Retiring representatives

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Super PACs/Organizations

American Bridge 21st Century • American Crossroads • American Unity PAC • Campaign for Primary Accountability • Club for Growth Action • Congressional Leadership Fund • Cooperative of American Physicians IE Committee• Crossroads Generation • Ending Spending Action Fund • Endorse Liberty • Fair Share Action • FreedomWorks for America • Government Integrity Fund • House Majority PAC • Independence USA Fund • League of Conservation Voters • Liberty for All PAC • Majority PAC • National Association of Realtors • NEA Advocacy Fund • Now or Never PAC • Planned Parenthood Votes • Ready for Hillary • Republicans for a Prosperous America • Restore America's Voice PAC • SEIU Pea-Federal • Women Vote!

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