Candidate filing for the 2024 election wrapped up last week in North Carolina. There were many twists and turns throughout the period and NC Chamber Political Director Kirk O’Steen recapped the key takeaways as we look towards the primary election.

Presidential
2024 is a Presidential election year and several major parties will hold their presidential primaries in North Carolina on March 5. The following candidates will on the ballot:

Democratic Party
Joe Biden

Republican Party
Ryan Binkley
Chris Christie
Ron DeSantis
Nikki Haley
Vivek Ramaswamy
Donald J. Trump

Libertarian Party
Joshua (Toad) Anderson
Charles Ballay
David Trimetaveler Dunlap
Jacob Hornberger
Lars Mapstead
Chase Oliver
Michael Rectenwald
Joshua Smith
Mike ter Maat

Green Party
No Candidates Submitted

Senate
After high-profile races in 2020 and 2022, a United States Senate contest will not be on North Carolina ballots in 2024. Since US Senators serve six-year terms, the next seat up for election will be Sen. Thom Tillis’ in 2026.

Congress
With the expiration of the 2022 court-drawn congressional map, the North Carolina legislature passed a new congressional map for 2024. Candidate filing for congressional races was something like a fever dream last week.

Safe Districts
Supporters of Greg Murphy, Valerie Foushee, Virginia Foxx, David Rouzer, and Alma Adams can breathe a sigh of relief. These incumbents will not face a primary challenger in 2024 and are in districts that overwhelmingly vote to support their political parties.

Deborah Ross, Richard Hudson, and Chuck Edwards are also in very favorable districts in the general election but will face a primary challenger on March 5.

NC-14 is a newly drawn district west of Charlotte that strongly leans toward Republicans. House Speaker Tim Moore will face off against Jeff Gregory and Lillian Joseph to determine the Republican nominee for this seat. Whoever wins this primary will be heavily favored to win the general election in November to represent the district in Congress.

Crowded Primaries
The new congressional map created several open districts that lean Republican. Whoever emerges from the GOP primary in these districts is very likely to win in November. As a result, a long list of Republicans filed to run in these districts. The best example of this is NC-13, which encompasses parts of Wake County and the counties surrounding it. Thirteen candidates will be featured in this district’s Republican primary. If you’re in the Raleigh area, expect to see many ads for these candidates in the coming weeks – this will be an expensive race.

Two other crowded primaries were created by the retirement of Patrick McHenry in NC-10 and Dan Bishop’s decision to run for NC Attorney General instead of seeking reelection in NC-8.

One to Watch
The most competitive congressional race in North Carolina will be in NC-1, represented by Don Davis. This district has shifted to the right in regard to both the district lines and voting trends. President Biden won this district by almost two points in 2020, but Republican Senator Ted Budd won this district by nearly six points in 2022. Sandy Smith is once again running as a Republican in this district after she lost to Davis in 2022. She will be challenged by Laurie Buckhout in the GOP primary on March 5. This is certainly a race to keep an eye on.

In total, 69 North Carolinians filed to run for Congress in our state’s fourteen districts.

Governor
Both Parties will feature gubernatorial primaries for 2024. Attorney General Josh Stein will face off against former Associate Justice Michael Morgan, Marcus Williams, and Chrelle Booker in the Democratic primary.

In the GOP primary, Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson will face Treasurer Dale Folwell and Bill Graham, a trial attorney from Salisbury.

State Legislative Races to Watch
HD-82 – One of the most interesting primaries to watch this March will be the contest between Rep. Kevin Crutchfield and Brian Echevarria in House District 82’s Republican primary. Crutchfield, a first-term legislator and 2023 Jobs Champion, will take on Brian Echevarria, who narrowly lost in his race against Diamond Staton-Williams last election.

HD-105 – After Tricia Cotham shocked the world this Spring by switching party affiliations, she now finds herself in House District 105, a tossup district that Donald Trump won by two points in 2020. On the Democratic side of the ballot, three challengers will vie for a shot to be on the ballot this November. Interestingly, Yolanda Holmes ran unsuccessfully against Tricia Cotham in the HD-112 Democratic primary in 2022. Whoever emerges from the Democratic primary will be well funded. This will be a general election race that NC Democrats have circled.

SD-3 – After the surprising news that Senator Jim Perry would not seek reelection, an interesting primary is shaping up between New Bern Attorney Bob Brinson and former legislator, Rep. Michael Speciale. Both have strong ties to the area and whoever is victorious in the Republican primary will be heavily favored in November.

SD-21 – Following the decision of Senator Joyce Krawiec to not seek reelection, Democrats Laurelyn Dossett and Ronda Mays will meet in the primary to decide who will face business owner Dana Caudill Jones in November. The district leans heavily towards Republicans.

SD-22 – 2023 Jobs Champion Mike Woodard is seeking reelection in the Senate. After finishing second in his bid for Mayor of Durham, Woodard will face Sophia Chitilik in the Democratic primary. No Republican filed for this race, but libertarian Ray Ubinger will meet the winner in the general election.

Dates to Remember:

Jan. 19, 2024: County boards of elections begin mailing absentee ballots to eligible voters who submitted an absentee ballot request form.
Feb. 9, 2024: Voter registration deadline (5 p.m.).
Feb. 15, 2024: In-person early voting begins.
Feb. 27, 2024: Absentee ballot request deadline (5 p.m.).
March 2, 2024: In-person early voting ends (3 p.m.).
March 5, 2024: Primary Election Day