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North Carolina State Senate elections, 2026

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2026 North Carolina Senate Election
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Election info

Seats up: 50
Primary: March 3, 2026
General: November 3, 2026

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Elections for the North Carolina State Senate will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026.

The North Carolina State Senate is one of 88 state legislative chambers with elections in 2026. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

Party control

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and State government trifectas
Party As of September 2025
     Democratic Party 20
     Republican Party 30
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 50

Candidates

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

Primary

General election

North Carolina State Senate general election 2026
  • Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
  • The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
  • Please contact Ballotpedia about candidate additions, withdrawals, or disqualifications.
  • 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.
Office Democratic Party Democratic Republican Party Republican Other
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11

James Gailliard

District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26

Sam Page

District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50

Voting information

See also: Voting in North Carolina

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


Competitiveness

This section will be updated with information about the competitiveness of state legislative elections in North Carolina. For more information about Ballotpedia's Competitiveness Analysis of state legislative elections, please click here.

Process to become a candidate

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in North Carolina

For partisan candidates

DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Chapter 163, Article 10, Section 106 of the North Carolina General Statutes

A partisan candidate must be registered as an affiliate of the party with which he or she intends to campaign. A partisan candidate must also do the following:[1]

  • file a notice of candidacy with the appropriate board of elections (state or county-level)
  • file a felony conviction disclosure form
  • provide for payment of required filing fees

Filing fees for primary elections are established by Chapter 163, Article 10, Section 107, of the North Carolina General Statutes. Filing fees formulas are summarized in the table below.[2]

Filing fees
Office How the fee is determined
Governor 1% of the office's annual salary
Lieutenant governor 1% of the office's annual salary
State executive offices 1% of the office's annual salary
United States Senator 1% of the office's annual salary
United States Representative 1% of the office's annual salary
State senator 1% of the office's annual salary
State representative 1% of the office's annual salary

For independent candidates

DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Chapter 163, Article 11, Section 122 of the North Carolina General Statutes

An unaffiliated candidate must file the same forms and pay the same filing fees as partisan candidates. In addition, the candidate must petition to appear on the ballot. Signature requirements are as follows (additional petition requirements are discussed below).[3][4]

Signature requirements for independent candidates
Office Signature requirement formula
Governor, United States Senator, and other statewide offices 1.5% of the total number of voters who voted in the most recent general election for governor (must include at least 200 signatures from each of three congressional districts)
United States Representative 1.5% of the total number of registered voters in the district as of January 1 of the election year
State legislative seats (including those that cover more than one county) 4% of the total number of registered voters in the district as of January 1 of the election year

For write-in candidates

DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Chapter 163, Article 11, Section 123 of the North Carolina General Statutes

To be certified, a write-in candidate must submit a declaration of intent and petition. Signature requirements are as follows (additional petition requirements are discussed below).[5]

Signature requirements for write-in candidates
Office Required number of signatures
Governor, United States Senator, and other statewide offices 500
United States Representative; state house and state senate seats for districts that cover more than one county 250
State house and state senate seats for districts that lie within one county If there are 5,000 or more registered voters in the district, 100 signatures; if fewer than 5,000, 1% of the number of registered voters


Petitions are due on noon 90 days before the general election.[6] Write-in candidates do not have to pay filing fees.[6]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article 2, Section 6 of the North Carolina Constitution states: Each Senator, at the time of his election, shall be not less than 25 years of age, shall be a qualified voter of the State, and shall have resided in the State as a citizen for two years and in the district for which he is chosen for one year immediately preceding his election.

Salaries and per diem

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[7]
SalaryPer diem
$13,951/year$104/day

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

North Carolina legislators assume office on January 1 the year after their election.[8]

North Carolina political history

Trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.

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

Presidential politics in North Carolina

2024

See also: Presidential election, 2024


Presidential election in North Carolina, 2024
 
Candidate/Running mate
%
Popular votes
Electoral votes
✔
Image of
Image of
Donald Trump/J.D. Vance (R)
 
50.9
 
2,898,423 16
Image of
Image of
Kamala D. Harris/Tim Walz (D)
 
47.6
 
2,715,375 0
Image of
Image of
Jill Stein/Butch Ware (G)
 
0.4
 
24,762 0
Image of
Image of
Chase Oliver/Mike ter Maat (L)
 
0.4
 
22,125 0
Image of
Image of
Cornel West/Melina Abdullah (Justice for All)
 
0.2
 
12,099 0
Image of
Image of
Randall Terry/Stephen E. Broden (Constitution Party)
 
0.1
 
6,863 0
  Other write-in votes
 
0.3
 
19,494 0

There were no incumbents in this race The results have been certified.

Total votes: 5,699,141


2020

See also: Presidential election, 2020


Presidential election in North Carolina, 2020
 
Candidate/Running mate
%
Popular votes
Electoral votes
✔
Image of
Image of
Donald Trump/Mike Pence (R)
 
49.9
 
2,758,775 15
Image of
Image of
Joe Biden/Kamala D. Harris (D)
 
48.6
 
2,684,292 0
Image of
Image of
Jo Jorgensen/Spike Cohen (L)
 
0.9
 
48,678 0
Image of
Image of
Howie Hawkins/Angela Nicole Walker (G)
 
0.2
 
12,195 0
Image of
Image of
Don Blankenship/William Mohr (Constitution Party)
 
0.1
 
7,549 0
Image of
Jade Simmons (no running mate) (Independent) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
119 0
  Other write-in votes
 
0.2
 
13,196 0

Incumbents are bolded and underlined The results have been certified.

Total votes: 5,524,804


2016

See also: Presidential election, 2016
U.S. presidential election, North Carolina, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes Electoral votes
     Democratic Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine 46.2% 2,189,316 0
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngDonald Trump/Mike Pence 49.8% 2,362,631 15
     Libertarian Gary Johnson/Bill Weld 2.7% 130,126 0
     - Write-in votes 1.3% 59,491 0
Total Votes 4,741,564 15
Election results via: North Carolina State Board of Elections


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


Redistricting following the 2020 census

On October 25, 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly adopted new legislative district boundaries.[9] The legislation adopting the new Senate districts passed the state Senate by a vote of 28-17 and the State House by a vote of 63-40.[10] The legislation adopting the new House districts passed the state Senate by a vote of 27-17 and the State House by a vote of 62-44.[11] All four votes were strictly along party lines with all votes in favor by Republicans and all votes against by Democrats.[12][13][14][15] WUNC's Rusty Jacobs wrote that Catawba College Prof. Michael "Bitzer said Republicans have drawn maps that have a strong chance of preserving their veto-proof super majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. Bitzer noted that constitutional provisions, like requiring legislators to keep counties whole when drawing state legislative districts, make it more difficult for lawmakers to gerrymander these maps more aggressively."[16]


See also

North Carolina State Legislative Elections News and Analysis
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North Carolina State Executive Offices
North Carolina State Legislature
North Carolina Courts
State legislative elections:
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
North Carolina elections:
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015
Primary elections in North Carolina
Party control of state government
State government trifectas
Partisan composition of state legislatures
Partisan composition of state senates
Partisan composition of state houses

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ North Carolina General Statutes, "Chapter 163, Article 10, Section 106," accessed April 28, 2025
  2. ↑ North Carolina General Statutes, "Chapter 163, Article 10, Section 107," accessed April 28, 2025
  3. ↑ North Carolina General Statutes, "Chapter 163, Article 11, Section 122," accessed April 28, 2025
  4. ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Senate Bill 656," accessed April 28, 2025
  5. ↑ North Carolina General Statutes, "Chapter 163, Article 11, Section 123," accessed April 28, 2025
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Write-in Candidate Petitions," accessed April 28, 2025
  7. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  8. ↑ North Carolina Constitution, "Article II, Section 9," accessed February 12, 2021
  9. ↑ The Carolina Journal, "New state House, Senate, and congressional maps finalized," October 25, 2023
  10. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "Senate Bill 758 / SL 2023-146," accessed October 26, 2023
  11. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "House Bill 898 / SL 2023-149," accessed October 26, 2023
  12. ↑ North Carolina General Assembly, "House Roll Call Vote Transcript for Roll Call #614," accessed October 26, 2023
  13. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "Senate Roll Call Vote Transcript for Roll Call #499," accessed October 26, 2023
  14. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "Senate Roll Call Vote Transcript for Roll Call #504," accessed October 26, 2023
  15. ↑ North Caroliina General Assembly, "House Roll Call Vote Transcript for Roll Call #604," accessed October 26, 2023
  16. ↑ WUNC, "New district maps show signs of GOP partisan gerrymandering," October 24, 2023


Current members of the North Carolina State Senate
Leadership
Minority Leader:Sydney Batch
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
Dan Blue (D)
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
Amy Galey (R)
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
Paul Lowe (D)
District 33
Carl Ford (R)
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50
Republican Party (30)
Democratic Party (20)


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