This is a breaking election update from the Cardinal & Pine team.

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I don’t know about you, but I’m tired and frazzled and energized. Election Day in North Carolina brought some extraordinary outcomes.

I was there in 2010 when Republicans defied the odds and swept the state Legislature. On Tuesday, Democrats pulled off a similar feat 16 years in the making. 

As of Wednesday morning, many votes are still being counted. But we can say this:

Democrats in North Carolina claimed big wins in the US Senate, the US House, and the courts. Stunningly, they’ve also won a majority in one chamber of the NC General Assembly.

Here’s what we’ll get to below in this breaking news update from Cardinal & Pine:

More to come. Thanks for trusting Cardinal & Pine. Share this newsletter with friends and family!

Cardinal & Pine/Dylan Rhoney

After running for office for 40 years, Roy Cooper remains undefeated as a political candidate in North Carolina. 

In the race for US Senate, Cooper—who was previously governor and attorney general of North Carolina—defeated Michael Whatley, former chairman of the Republican National Committee. With 94% of the vote in, Cooper led Whatley 59-39%.

Cooper’s victory was critical for Democrats’ hopes of retaking the US Senate. 

AP Photo/Matt Ramey

Democratic Justice Anita Earls defeated GOP former state House Rep. Sarah Stevens (R-Surry County). Surprisingly, she won it easily, claiming nearly 60% of the vote.

“It is the honor of my life to be elected to serve another term of the Supreme Court,” Earls said in a statement on X. “I am so grateful to everyone who worked so hard to make this victory possible. Thank you for your trust, North Carolina!”

Earls’ win is critical for Democrats who have saved two incumbent court seats in a row. While Republicans maintain a 5-2 majority on the Court, three seats currently held by Republicans are on the ballot in 2028, giving Democrats an opportunity to flip the court blue in two years.

This was one of the most critical races in North Carolina, given the high court’s potential power over gerrymandering, utility rates, and the state’s obligation to fund public education. 

AP Photo/David Yeazell

There are still 10 races waiting to be called in North Carolina’s congressional races, but as it stands, Democrats are in position to take 9 or 10 of the state’s 14 seats in the US House of Representatives.

They will do so despite running in some of the most gerrymandered districts in America, which had been designed to make Republican elections easier. In 2025, Republicans, at President Trump’s order, gerrymandered more in hopes of winning US Rep. Don Davis’ seat too, but that has backfired badly.

In addition to wins in the highly publicized races featuring Jamie Ager and Don Davis, Democratic candidates Valerie Foushee and Alma Adams are the likely winners in House districts 4 and 12, respectively.

Democrats are also poised to claim shocking wins in several other districts, including House District 14, where Democrat Lakesha Womack appears likely to defeat Rep. Tim Moore. Moore is the former NC House Speaker. His loss would be a stunning upset.

In House District 9, a military-heavy district that’s home to Fort Bragg, Democrat Richard Ojeda has defeated influential Republican Richard Hudson, the head of the powerful National Republican Congressional Committee, according to NBC News. Ojeda currently leads Hudson 51% to 49% with more than 95% of the vote counted.

More results:

Democrats take control of the NC House of Representatives

Then-NC House Minority Leader Robert Reives, D-Chatham, confers with another lawmaker during a debate on a redistricting bill at the Legislative building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. Democrats won control of the state House during Tuesday’s elections, making Reives the likely state House speaker. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Few people in Raleigh thought it was possible that Democrats would be able to win a chamber in the NC General Assembly.

But as of Wednesday morning, with five races not yet called, Democrats have won 66 seats in the NC House compared to 48 for the Republicans, according to WRAL.

It will be the first time Democrats control a chamber in the state Legislature since 2010.

Meanwhile, in the NC Senate—which was considered an even greater uphill battle because of gerrymandering—Republicans appear to have won 25 seats and Democrats have won 24, with one more race remaining to be called.

The one remaining race is in NC Senate District 24, where Republican Danny Britt Jr. leads Democrat Catina Hamm by just 268 votes.

The Democratic leader in the NC House, Rep. Robert Reives II, had indicated the party’s focus if they won the majority would be affordability.

”North Carolinians voted for change yesterday, ending more than 15 years of Republican control in the House of Representatives,” Reives said in a statement Wednesday morning.

“I want to thank the men and women who stood up and put their names on the ballot to run. Without them, we would not have been able to do this. Democrats are ready to fight for the policies that put us in this position. We understand the trust that voters have given us and look forward to hitting the ground running in January.”

Democrats sweep crucial races for the North Carolina courts

From L-R, the Democratic candidates for the NC Court of Appeals: Christine Walczyk, Toby Hampson, and John Arrowood. All three won Tuesday night. (Photo via Christine Walcyzk on Instagram)

North Carolina Democrats showed resurgent unity in the state’s crucial court races Tuesday, winning all three seats on the NC Court of Appeals in addition to Anita Earls’ victory in the NC Supreme Court.

With all of the precincts reporting, the three Democratic candidates—Toby Hampson, Christine Walczyk, and John Arrowood—had each won 56-57% of the votes, according to State Board of Elections data.

The Court of Appeals functions as the middle layer of the state court system, between the lower district courts and the Supreme Courts. Judges serve eight-year terms and make decisions on three-judge panels, where they decide if the law was applied correctly in the lower courts.

In recent years, Republicans have used their dominant majorities in the appeals courts to strip election powers away from the Democratic governor and to nearly overturn the 2024 NC Supreme Court election loss of Jefferson Griffin.

But on Tuesday night, Democrats won resounding victories.

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Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Billy Ball. I’m an NC native and journalist. I tend to lean left on opinion, but I lean no way on facts. This newsletter includes content from Dylan Rhoney. It was edited by Crystal Niforos.

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