North Carolina's 4th Congressional District election, 2024

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North Carolina's 4th Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: December 15, 2023
	Primary: March 5, 2024; Primary runoff: May 14, 2024; General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
	Poll times: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Voting in North Carolina
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic; DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Democratic; Inside Elections: Solid Democratic; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
	North Carolina's 4th Congressional District; 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th; North Carolina elections, 2024; U.S. Congress elections, 2024; U.S. Senate elections, 2024; U.S. House elections, 2024; Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida 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 racesOhio 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 racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

North Carolina 2024 elections

U.S. House • Governor • Lt. Gov • Attorney General • Secretary of State • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Supreme court • Appellate courts • State ballot measures • Local ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • All other local • How to run for office

All U.S. House districts, including the 4th Congressional District of North Carolina, held elections in 2024. The general election was November 5, 2024. The primary was March 5, 2024, and a primary runoff was May 14, 2024. The filing deadline was December 15, 2023.

The outcome of this race affected the partisan balance of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 119th Congress. All 435 House districts were up for election.

At the time of the election, Republicans held a 220-212 majority with three vacancies.^[1] As a result of the election, Republicans retained control of the U.S. House, winning 220 seats to Democrats' 215.^[2] To read more about the 2024 U.S. House elections, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Democratic candidate won 66.9%-33.1%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 72.4%-26.2%.^[3]

North Carolina conducted redistricting between the 2022 and 2024 elections. As a result, district lines in this state changed. To review how redistricting took place in North Carolina and to see maps of the new districts, click here. For a list of all states that drew new district lines between 2022 and 2024, click here.

For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House North Carolina District 4

Incumbent Valerie Foushee defeated Eric Blankenburg and Guy Meilleur in the general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 4 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Valerie Foushee (D)	71.8	308,064
	Eric Blankenburg (R)	26.1	112,084
	Guy Meilleur (L)	2.0	8,632

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 428,780
= 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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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Valerie Foushee advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 4.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 4

Eric Blankenburg defeated Mahesh Ganorkar in the Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 4 on March 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Eric Blankenburg	70.4	25,254
	Mahesh Ganorkar	29.6	10,597

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 35,851
= 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

Leonard Harrison (R)

Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Guy Meilleur advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 4.

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.

Eric Blankenburg

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "America is in deep trouble. Political corruption pervades our institutions. Pointless foreign wars have cost us trillions of dollars and countless lives. Millions of manufacturing and technology jobs have been outsourced overseas. Our education system has failed our children. Economic blight pervades our cities and rural communities. Our infrastructure is aging and overburdened. And Illegal migration is out-of-control. Career politicians of both parties are to blame. We can’t solve these issues with the same people and thinking that created them. It’s time to jettison the career politicians and elect someone who understands the problems that are plaguing our country and isn’t afraid to fix them. Please join with me to help reform our system and build a great future for all North Carolinians and Americans."

Key Messages

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

Bring Outsourced Manufacturing and Technology Jobs Home and Rebuild Our Economy.

End the Pointless Foreign Wars.

Revitalize our Underprivileged Communities.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House North Carolina District 4 in 2024.

Voting information

See also: Voting in North Carolina

Election information in North Carolina: Nov. 5, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: Nov. 2, 2024
By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 11, 2024
Online: Oct. 11, 2024

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

Yes

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

In-person: Oct. 29, 2024
By mail: Received by Oct. 29, 2024
Online: Oct. 29, 2024

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

In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
By mail: Received by Nov. 5, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Oct. 17, 2024 to Nov. 2, 2024

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. (EST)

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. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Expand all | Collapse all

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/EricBlankenburg.jpg

Eric Blankenburg (R)

Bring Outsourced Manufacturing and Technology Jobs Home and Rebuild Our Economy.

End the Pointless Foreign Wars.

Revitalize our Underprivileged Communities.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Eric Blankenburg (R)

I am mostly interested in policies needed to rebuild our economy. We need to bring outsourced manufacturing and technology jobs home; simplify our tax and regulatory systems; create a world class workforce; revitalize our underprivileged areas; renew our aging and overburdened infrastructure; and create a green future that is technologically feasible and economically viable. I am also interested in reforming our foreign policy to stop the endless and pointless foreign wars.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Eric Blankenburg (R)

I am super smart and brutally honest. I also don't give a hoot about making politics a career, so I can't be intimidated or bought. I will say what I am going to do, and I will do what I say.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Eric Blankenburg (R)

I started working at my father's gas station when I was 13. I worked there until I joined the Air Force.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

Eric Blankenburg (R)

Career politicians ruined this country. The last thing we need is more of them.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Eric Blankenburg (R)

Rebuilding our economy will be the biggest challenge over the next decade. Related to that is the rise of China as an economic, political, and military competitor to the U.S. And also, the BRICS alliance, which includes China, that is challenging the U.S. dollar as the world’s trading currency.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

Eric Blankenburg (R)

I support term limits for all elected officials and political appointees. We must stop the revolving door between big business and big government, which creates an environment that is rife with corruption.

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Valerie Foushee	Democratic Party	$695,098	$737,114	$85,696	As of December 31, 2024
Eric Blankenburg	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Mahesh Ganorkar	Republican Party	$34,771	$32,369	$-27,598	As of February 21, 2024
Guy Meilleur	Libertarian Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. 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.^[4]
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.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Race ratings: North Carolina's 4th Congressional District election, 2024
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 5, 2024	October 29, 2024	October 22, 2024	October 15, 2024
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe 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 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in North Carolina, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
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 8,000, whichever is greater^[8]	$1,740.00	12/15/2023	Source
North Carolina	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	10,000^[9]	$1,740.00	3/5/2024	Source

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 2024 election.
Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 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 2022 election next to the map in place for the 2024 election. Click on a map below to enlarge it.

2022

2024

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

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

North Carolina U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
2024	14	14	5	64	28	2	11	46.4%	4	44.4%
2022	14	14	4	100	28	9	13	78.6%	7	70.0%
2020	13	13	3	64	26	8	5	50.0%	3	30.0%
2018	13	13	0	56	26	10	7	65.4%	8	61.5%
2016	13	13	1	74	26	6	10	61.5%	9	75.0%
2014	13	13	3	60	26	8	9	65.4%	6	60.0%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in North Carolina in 2024. Information below was calculated on 1/10/2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Sixty-four candidates filed to run for North Carolina’s 14 U.S. House districts in 2024, including 15 Democrats and 49 Republicans. That’s 4.6 candidates per district, less than the 7.14 candidates per district in 2022, the first election after the number of congressional districts in North Carolina increased from 13 to 14.

In 2020, when the state still had 13 Congressional districts, 4.9 candidates filed to run. In 2018, 4.3 candidates filed, and, in 2016, 5.7 did.

The 2024 election was the first to take place under new district lines that the North Carolina General Assembly adopted on October 25, 2023.

The 64 candidates who filed to run in 2024 were fewer than the 100 who ran in 2022. In 2020, 64 candidates also ran, although North Carolina had one fewer district then. Fifty-six candidates ran in 2018, the decade low.

Five seats were open in 2024, one more than in 2022 and a decade high.

Reps. Jeff Jackson (D-14th) and Dan Bishop (R-8th) did not run for re-election in order to run for state attorney general, while Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-10th) retired from public office. Reps. Kathy Manning (D-6th) and Wiley Nickel (D-13th), who did not run for re-election either, cited the partisan lean of their redrawn districts as the reason.

Fifteen candidates—one Democrat and 14 Republicans—ran for the open 13th district, the most candidates running for a seat in 2024. Thirteen primaries—two Democratic and 11 Republican—were contested. That was fewer than the 22 contested primaries in 2022, and tied with 2020 as the lowest number of contested primaries this decade. As a percentage of all possible primaries, the 13 contested primaries in 2024 were the lowest this decade (46%). North Carolina had 13 districts in 2020, making the 13 contested primaries that year 50% of all possible major party primaries.

Four incumbents—one Democrat and three Republicans—faced primary challengers. The 3rd and 6th Congressional districts were guaranteed to Republicans because no Democrats filed to run. Republicans filed to run in every congressional district, meaning none were guaranteed to Democrats.

Partisan Voter Index

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

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+21. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 21 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made North Carolina's 4th the 60th most Democratic district nationally.^[10]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in North Carolina's 4th based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
72.4%	26.2%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.^[11] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline	Republican Baseline	Difference
70.1	29.3	R+40.8

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in North Carolina, 2020

North Carolina presidential election results (1900-2020)

18 Democratic wins
13 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
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

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 May 2024.

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 May 2024.

State executive officials in North Carolina, May 2024
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Roy Cooper
Lieutenant Governor	Mark Robinson
Secretary of State	Elaine Marshall
Attorney General	Josh Stein

State legislature

North Carolina State Senate

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	20
	Republican Party	30
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		50

North Carolina House of Representatives

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	48
	Republican Party	72
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		120

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

North Carolina Party Control: 1992-2024
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
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
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
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

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2018.