The 2026 elections put all 14 of North Carolina’s U.S. House seats on the ballot on November 3, 2026. House members serve two-year terms, so every district is contested in each even-numbered year. North Carolina’s House delegation is currently 10 Republicans and 4 Democrats.
The redrawn map
North Carolina has 14 congressional districts, one more than it had in the 2010s after the state gained a seat in the 2020 reapportionment. The current lines were redrawn by the state legislature ahead of the 2024 elections and are in use again in 2026, so the 2026 races run on the same map. Because every House seat is up at once, 2026 offers a full read on how the state’s districts have settled under that map. North Carolina also elects two U.S. Senators, currently Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, both Republicans. Senate terms run six years, and the state’s two seats sit on different cycles, so they are rarely up in the same year. One of the two seats is up in 2026; the other is not on the ballot again until 2028. North Carolina is closely divided in presidential races, which is part of why its district lines have been fought over so often in court.
Races to Watch
Most of North Carolina’s districts were drawn to lean clearly toward one party, so only a couple were close at the top of the ticket in 2024. District 1, in the northeastern part of the state, was the closest: it voted for Donald Trump by about 3 points in 2024 while sending a Democrat to the House, the kind of split result that tends to draw national attention. The next-closest, District 11 in the mountains around Asheville, still favored Trump by about 10 points. The state’s other 12 districts were drawn with clearer partisan majorities and were decided by wider margins in 2024. Because most House seats have a clear partisan tilt, the statewide Senate race is the federal contest that reaches every North Carolina voter rather than just one district.
Key Dates for North Carolina Voters
North Carolina holds its statewide primary on March 3, 2026, one of the earliest in the country, when each party picks its U.S. House and U.S. Senate nominees. If no candidate wins a primary outright, a second primary would be held on May 12, 2026. The general election for all 14 House seats and the Senate seat is November 3, 2026. North Carolina offers early in-person voting, and voters can register and cast a ballot during the early-voting period. Exact deadlines and sites are set by the state, so check the North Carolina State Board of Elections for the dates that apply to you.
Find Your North Carolina District
Not sure which district you are in? Use the ZIP code lookup on our home page to find your North Carolina congressional district and see who represents you. For maps and the full list of the state’s seats, see the North Carolina congressional districts hub. For the Senate picture in every state, see U.S. Senators by State.
See also: 2026 Congressional Elections and U.S. Senators by State.
