North Carolina's 1st Congressional District election, 2026

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 1st Congressional District
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: December 19, 2025
Primary: March 3, 2026 Primary runoff: Pending 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: Likely Republican DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Tilt Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely 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 1st 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

All U.S. House districts, including the 1st Congressional District of North Carolina, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House North Carolina District 1

Incumbent Donald Davis, Robert Hanig, Sandy Roberson, and Ashley-Nicole Russell are running in the general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 1 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Donald Davis (D)
		Robert Hanig (R)
		Sandy Roberson (R)
	Submit photo	Ashley-Nicole Russell (R)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here. You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Sandy Roberson
• Donald Davis
• Robert Hanig

Voting information

See also: Voting in North Carolina

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.

You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Donald Davis
• Robert Hanig
• Sandy Roberson

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Donald Davis	Democratic Party	$1,573,674	$287,825	$1,556,690	As of September 30, 2025
Robert Hanig	Republican Party	$248,806	$2,581	$246,225	As of September 30, 2025
Sandy Roberson	Republican Party	$3,516,444	$1,136,394	$2,389,478	As of September 30, 2025
Eric Rouse	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Ashley-Nicole Russell	Republican 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.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: North Carolina's 1st Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	11/4/2025	10/28/2025	10/21/2025	10/14/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Likely Republican	Likely Republican	Toss-up	Toss-up
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Tilt Republican	Tilt Republican	Toss-up	Toss-up
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Likely Republican	Likely Republican	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

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

Democratic-held U.S. House district that Trump won

See also: U.S. House districts represented by a Democrat in 2026 and won by Donald Trump in 2024

This is one of 14 U.S. House districts Democrats are defending that Donald Trump (R) won in 2024. The map below highlights those districts. Hover over or click a district to see information such as the incumbent and the presidential vote counts.

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

2024

See also: North Carolina's 1st Congressional District election, 2024

North Carolina's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Republican primary)

North Carolina's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House North Carolina District 1

Incumbent Donald Davis defeated Laurie Buckhout and Tom Bailey in the general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 1 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donald Davis (D)	49.5	186,341
		Laurie Buckhout (R)	47.8	180,034
		Tom Bailey (L)	2.6	9,949

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 376,324
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• John Schaffer (Independent)

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Donald Davis advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 1.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Brian Moutoux (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 1

Laurie Buckhout defeated Sandy Smith in the Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 1 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Laurie Buckhout	53.5	33,893
		Sandy Smith	46.5	29,471

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 63,364
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Christine Villaverde (R)
• Fred Von Canon (R)

Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Tom Bailey advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 1.

2022

See also: North Carolina's 1st Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House North Carolina District 1

Donald Davis defeated Sandy Smith in the general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 1 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donald Davis (D)	52.4	134,996
		Sandy Smith (R)	47.6	122,780

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 257,776
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Eshan Patel (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 1

Donald Davis defeated Erica Smith, Jason Spriggs, and Jullian Bishop Sr. in the Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 1 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donald Davis	63.2	42,693
		Erica Smith	31.1	21,012
		Jason Spriggs	3.1	2,123
		Jullian Bishop Sr.	2.6	1,752

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 67,580
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 1

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 1 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sandy Smith	31.4	13,621
		Sandy Roberson	26.7	11,603
		Billy Strickland	13.9	6,050
		Brent Roberson	13.8	5,992
		Brad Murphy	9.5	4,128
		Will Aiken	3.0	1,285
		Ernest Reeves	1.2	523
	Submit photo	Henry Williams	0.5	202

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 43,404
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: North Carolina's 1st Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House North Carolina District 1

Incumbent G.K. Butterfield defeated Sandy Smith in the general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 1 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		G.K. Butterfield (D)	54.2	188,870
		Sandy Smith (R)	45.8	159,748

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 348,618
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent G.K. Butterfield advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 1.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Deandre Carter (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 1

Sandy Smith defeated Michele Nix, James Glisson (Unofficially withdrew), and Ethan Baca in the Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 1 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sandy Smith	77.3	31,490
		Michele Nix	9.9	4,030
	Submit photo	James Glisson (Unofficially withdrew)	7.4	3,031
		Ethan Baca	5.4	2,206

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 40,757
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

District analysis

This section will contain facts and figures related to this district's elections when those are available.

See also

North Carolina	2026 primaries	2026 U.S. Congress elections
North Carolina congressional delegation Voting in North Carolina North Carolina elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018	Democratic primary battlegrounds Republican primary battlegrounds U.S. Senate Democratic primaries U.S. Senate Republican primaries U.S. House Democratic primaries U.S. House Republican primaries	U.S. Congress elections U.S. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access

External links

• 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)

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