Senate

	2010 Legislative Election Results
State-by-State Analysis
	Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan• Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming
Other 2010 Election information
	State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2010 • State Senate elections • State House elections

	2010 Legislative Election Results
State-by-State Analysis
	Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan• Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming
Other 2010 Election information
	State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2010 • State Senate elections • State House elections

	2010 Legislative Election Results
State-by-State Analysis
	Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan• Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming
Other 2010 Election information
	State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2010 • State Senate elections • State House elections

North Carolina State Senate Election Results

This page contains macro-level election results and analysis for the North Carolina State Senate. For results in individual contests see our North Carolina State Senate elections, 2010 page. The following is a breakdown of the state senate before and after the election:

North Carolina State Senate
Party		As of November 1, 2010	After the 2010 Election
	Democratic Party	30	19
	Republican Party	20	31
Total		50	50

What You'll See on This Page

This page displays the following lists of candidates

Incumbents who ran on November 2
Incumbents who were defeated
Challengers who defeated an incumbent
Newly elected senators
List of all winners
Unopposed candidates
Third party candidates

State Senate Overview:

There were 42 incumbents who ran in the November 2 general election. Only 7 incumbents lost, and thus 35 incumbents were re-elected to the North Carolina State Senate.

No Republican incumbents lost in the general election, while 7 Democratic incumbents lost.

There will be 15 new senators sworn-in. Of those 15, 2 are Democrats and 13 are Republicans

Of the 50 seats up for election, 19 were won by Democrats and 31 by Republicans.

12 candidates were unopposed, 1 Democrat and 11 Republicans.

Only 4 candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate in the general election.

Incumbency Analysis

Of the 1,167 state senate seats up for election in 2010, incumbents ran for 894 (76.6%) of them. Of these 894, 94 lost their re-election bids, 89 Democrats and 5 Republicans. In North Carolina, eight incumbent senators did not run for re-election on the November 2 ballot, while 42 incumbents (84%) ran for re-election. Of these 42 incumbents, 7 were defeated. All 7 were Democrats.

Incumbents who ran on November 2

Andrew C. Brock, first elected to the North Carolina State Senate in 2002

The following is a list of all of the incumbents who ran on the November 2 general election ballot:

Incumbents defeated

A. B. Swindell, first elected to the state senate in 2000, was defeated in 2010.

The following is a list of incumbents defeated on November 2:

Candidate	Party	District
A. B. Swindell
Joe Sam Queen
John Snow (North Carolina state senator)
Margaret Dickson
Steve Goss
Tony Foriest
Donald Davis

Challengers who beat an incumbent

The following is a list of challengers who defeated an incumbent on November 2:

E.S. "Buck" Newton defeated incumbent A. B. Swindell in the general election.

Candidate	Party	District
Daniel Soucek
Buck Newton
Jim Davis (North Carolina)
Louis Pate
Ralph Hise
Rick Gunn
Wesley Meredith

New State Senators and General Election Winners

388 new senators were elected across the country. This includes challengers who defeated incumbents as well as candidates who won open seats. Of these 388, 278 were Republicans and 110 were Democrats. In North Carolina, 15 new senators will be sworn-in. Of those 15, 2 are Democrats and 13 are Republicans. In the 8 open seat contests, Republicans won 6 and Democrats 2. In total, North Carolina elected 50 senators, 31 Republicans and 19 Democrats.

Newly elected senators

William Rabon was elected to the North Carolina State Senate in 2010

The following are the newly-elected members of the North Carolina State Senate:

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

The following is a list of candidates who won election in seats where no incumbent was running:

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

The following is a list of all candidates elected to the North Carolina State Senate:

Democratic

Charlie Smith Dannelly was first elected to the senate in 1994. He was re-elected in 2010.

Republican

Competitiveness

Michael P. Walters was the only unopposed Democratic senate candidate in 2010

Across the nation, 1,167 state senate seats were up for election in 2010. 1,143 of those seats were partisan seats (24 seats were up for election in Nebraska's nonpartisan unicameral legislature). In 320 (28.0%) of these state senate contests, there was a major party candidate with no major party opposition. In North Carolina, 12 candidates (24.0% of seats) faced no major party opposition. Of these 12, 1 was a Democrat and 11 were Republicans.

Unopposed candidates in general election

The following candidates did not face major party competition:

Democratic

Michael P. Walters

Republican

Ballot Access

Across the nation, 140 independent or third party candidates ran for state senate. In North Carolina, 4 (4.3%) of the 92 senate candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate. None won election in the November 2 general election.

Third party candidates

The following is a list of third party and independent candidates who ran in 2010:

House

North Carolina State House Election Results

This page contains macro-level election results and analysis for the North Carolina House of Representatives. For results in individual contests, see our North Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2010. The following is a breakdown of the state house before and after the election:

North Carolina House of Representatives
Party		As of November 1, 2010	After the 2010 Election
	Democratic Party	68	52
	Republican Party	52	67
	Independent	-	1
Total		120	120

What You'll See on This Page

This page displays the following lists of candidates

Incumbents who ran on November 2
Incumbents who were defeated
Challengers who defeated an incumbent
Newly elected senators
List of all winners
Unopposed candidates
Third party candidates

State House Overview:

There were 104 incumbents who ran in the November 2 general election. Only 12 incumbents lost, and thus 92 incumbents were re-elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives.

No Republican incumbents lost in the general election, while 12 incumbent Democratic incumbent lost.

There will be 28 new representatives sworn-in. Of those 28, 6 are Democrats and 22 are Republicans

Of the 120 seats up for election, 52 were won by Democrats, 67 by Republicans, and 1 by an Independent.

44 candidates were unopposed, 13 Democrats and 31 Republicans.

Only 5 candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate in the general election.

Incumbency Analysis

Of the 4,958 state house seats up for election, incumbents ran in the general election for 4,091 (79.5%) of them. Of these 4,091 incumbents, 413 lost their re-election bids, 403 Democrats and 10 Republicans. In North Carolina, 104 (86.7%) incumbents ran for re-election. Of these 104, 12 incumbent representatives were defeated. All 12 incumbents were Democrats.

Incumbents who ran on November 2

The following is a list of all of the incumbents who ran on the November 2 general election ballot:

Incumbents defeated

The following is a list of incumbents defeated on November 2:

Candidate	Party	District
Alice Underhill
Van Braxton
Randy Stewart, North Carolina Representative
Chris Heagarty
Douglas Yongue
Nelson Cole
Jimmy Love, Sr.
Lorene Coates
Hugh Holliman
Cullie Tarleton
Jane Whilden
Arthur Williams 2010

Challengers who beat an incumbent

The following is a list of challengers who defeated an incumbent on November 2:

Candidate	Party	District
Norman Sanderson
William Cook (North Carolina)
Jeffrey Collins
Thomas Murry
Gaston Pridgen
Glen Bradley
Michael Stone (North Carolina representative)
Harry Warren
Rayne Brown
Jonathan Jordan
Timothy Moffitt
Stephen LaRoque

New Representatives and General Election Winners

1,345 new representatives were elected across the country. This includes challengers who defeated incumbents as well as candidates who won open seats. Of these 1,345, 988 were Republicans and 357 were Democrats. In North Carolina, 28 new representatives will be sworn-in. Of those 28, 6 are Democrats and 22 are Republicans. In the 16 open seat contests, Republicans won 6 and Democrats 10. In total, North Carolina elected 120 representatives, 67 Republicans, 52 Democrats, and 1 independent.

Newly elected representatives

The following are the newly-elected members of the North Carolina House of Representatives:

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

The following is a list of candidates who won election in seats where no incumbent was running:

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

The following is a list of all candidates elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives:

Democratic

Republican

Competitiveness

Across the nation, 4,958 state house seats were up for election in 2010. In 1,680 (33.9%) of these state house contests, there was a major party candidate with no major party opposition. In North Carolina, 44 candidates (36.7% of all seats) faced no major party opposition. Of these 44, 13 were Democrats and 31 were Republicans.

Unopposed candidates in general election

The following candidates did not face major party competition:

Democratic

Republican

Ballot Access

In North Carolina, 5 (2.5%) of the 202 house candidates ran as independent or third party candidates. One candidate, Bert Jones, won election in the November 2 general election.

Third party candidates

The following is a list of third party and independent candidates who ran in 2010:

National Partisan Trends

The following tables detail the partisan breakdown of national election results. These results provide context for Republican gains in North Carolina.

Incumbents who were defeated in the general election

Across the nation, only 15 Republican incumbents were defeated while 492 Democratic incumbents were defeated. In total, 507 (10.4%) of the 4,872 incumbents running in the general election were defeated. The following is a breakdown of incumbent defeats in the 2010 general election:

The following is the breakdown of incumbents who lost.

Incumbents defeated in 2010 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	89	403	492
Republican	5	10	15
TOTALS	94	413	507

Total new legislators elected

In total, 1,733 (28.3%) new legislators were elected in 2010. Of these 1,733, 1,266 (73.1%) are Republicans and 467 (26.9%) are Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of new legislators.

New Legislators after the 2010 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	110	357	467
Republican	278	988	1,266
TOTALS	388	1,345	1,733

Winners of Open Seats

Open seats contests made up 1,178 (19.2%) of the 6,125 seats on November 2. Of these 1,178 open seats, Republicans won 729 (61.9%) while Democrats won 449 (38.1%). Going into the election, the number of open seats formerly held by each party was quite similar. Estimates prior to the election suggest that approximately 52% of the open seats were previously held by Republicans and 48% were held by Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of open seat winners.

Open Seat Winners in 2010 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	108	341	449
Republican	191	538	729
TOTALS	299	879	1,178

Impact on legislative majorities

See also: Partisan balance of state legislatures

Heading into the November 2 elections, the Democratic Party held a commanding lead in state houses in the 88 legislative chambers that held elections in 2010. 52 of the 88 chambers, or nearly 60% of them, had a Democratic majority, while only 33 of them had a Republican majority. (Two chambers had an exactly equal number of Democrats and Republicans and one is officially nonpartisan.) The following is a partisan breakdown of state legislatures prior to the November 2 election:

Partisan breakdown before the November 2010 Election
Legislative chamber
State senates	23	18	1	1
State houses	29	15	1	-
Totals:	52	33	2	1

As a result of the election, Republicans picked up 20 legislative chambers while Democrats lost 20. Republicans won 53 total chambers on November 2, while Democrats won only 32. The following is a partisan breakdown of state legislatures after the November 2 election:

Partisan breakdown after the November 2010 Election
Legislative chamber
State senates	16	25	1	1
State houses	16	28	1	0
Totals:	32	53	2	1

Another way to examine the data is to gauge how many chambers had gains for the Democratic Party versus the Republican Party. Using this variable, the wide-sweeping Republican victory is further amplified. Democrats bolstered their majorities in only 7 of 88 (7.96%) state chambers. These legislatures are as follows:

State legislative chambers where Democrats gained seats on November 2
State	Chamber	Number of seats gained by Democrats
California	Assembly	+ 2
Delaware	House	+ 2
Hawaii	Senate	+ 1
Maryland	Senate	+ 2
Massachusetts	Senate	+ 1
Missouri	Senate	+ 1
West Virginia	Senate	+ 1

In 7 chambers, the GOP kept their current number of seats. In one chamber, the California State Assembly, both major parties gained seats by filling 2 vacancies and defeating an incumbent independent. Overall, the Republican Party picked up legislative seats in 75 (85.2%) of the 88 legislative chambers that held elections on November 2.

Impact on State Politics

Along with the GOP capture of the U.S. House of Representatives, state Republicans gained trifectas (control of the governorship, house, and senate) in 12 states. The following is a breakdown of trifectas across the nation, before and after the 2010 election:

Trifectas before and after the 2010 Election
Party	Before election	U.S. House seats	After election	U.S. House seats	Gain/loss states	Gain/loss congressional seats
Democratic	16	131	11	115	-5	-16
Republican	8	66	20	198	+12	+132

Before the election, 131 U.S House seats were in states with Democratic trifectas, while 66 districts were in states with Republican trifectas. After the election, Republicans trifectas control redistricting for 198 U.S. House seats while Democrats control only 115. Additionally, California, the strongest Democratic trifecta with 53 U.S. House representatives, passed propositions that take redistricting power away from state government.

North Carolina 2010 legislative election results

Senate

North Carolina State Senate Election Results

What You'll See on This Page

State Senate Overview:

Incumbency Analysis

Incumbents who ran on November 2

Incumbents defeated

Challengers who beat an incumbent

New State Senators and General Election Winners

Newly elected senators

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

Democratic

Republican

Competitiveness

Unopposed candidates in general election

Democratic

Republican

Ballot Access

Third party candidates

House

North Carolina State House Election Results

What You'll See on This Page

State House Overview:

Incumbency Analysis

Incumbents who ran on November 2

Incumbents defeated

Challengers who beat an incumbent

New Representatives and General Election Winners

Newly elected representatives

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

Democratic

Republican

Competitiveness

Unopposed candidates in general election

Democratic

Republican

Ballot Access

Third party candidates

National Partisan Trends

National Partisan Trends

Incumbents who were defeated in the general election

Total new legislators elected

Winners of Open Seats

Impact on legislative majorities

Impact on State Politics

Information about voting

2025 Elections

2026 Elections

2024 Election analysis

Trending

Public Policy

Information for candidates

Get Engaged

Services

Additional analysis

SITE NAVIGATION