John Rustin | November 9, 2022 | SHARE: 
In the U.S. Senate race, Republican Ted Budd bested Democrat Cheri Beasley by three-and-a-half percentage points. Budd’s victory keeps this seat—which is being vacated by retiring three-term Senator Richard Burr—in GOP hands. Going into the election, the U.S. Senate was split 50-50 (including two Independents who typically vote with the Democrats), and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris was the tie-breaking vote. At the time of this writing, Republicans unofficially held 47 of the 100 U.S. Senate seats, while Democrats held 46 (plus the two Independents). Races in Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Wisconsin are still too close to call.
Due to population growth, North Carolina picked up a 14th U.S. House seat in 2022, and the election resulted in a 7-to-7 split among our congressional delegation. Incumbent Republicans Dan Bishop, Virginia Foxx, Richard Hudson, Patrick McHenry, Greg Murphy, and David Rouzer successfully defended their seats, as did incumbent Democrats Alma Adams, Kathy Manning, and Deborah Ross. Democrats Don Davis, Valerie Foushee, Jeff Jackson, and Wiley Nickel, as well as Republican Chuck Edwards—all of whom are current members of the North Carolina Senate—won their races and will be heading to our nation’s capital. As anticipated, Nickel’s race against Republican Bo Hines in the 13th District was the closest, being decided by just over 7,000 votes in a race in which 273,822 votes were cast.
As of this writing, 378 of the 435 U.S. House races have been called—203 for Republicans and 175 for Democrats. The remaining 57 seats are undecided or too close to call, and 218 seats are needed for a majority.
Republicans swept all statewide races for North Carolina’s appellate courts.With an almost identical margin of victory of 5 percentage points, Republican Richard Dietz defeated Democrat Lucy Inman, and Republican Trey Allen defeated incumbent Democrat Sam J. Ervin, IV to gain seats on the North Carolina Supreme Court. This gives the GOP a decided 5-2 advantage in the state’s highest court. Additionally, Republicans Donna Stroud and John Tyson defended their seats on the State Court of Appeals, while fellow GOP candidates Julee Tate Flood and Michael Stading bested their opponents to join the 15-member Court of Appeals.
Going into the election, Republicans held 28 seats in the 50-member State Senate—two seats shy of a 30-seat, veto-proof supermajority. According to unofficial results, the GOP picked up the two additional seats necessary to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s veto stamp. In the most competitive State Senate races, incumbent Republicans Lisa Barnes (R-Nash), Danny Britt (R-Robeson), Michael Lee (R-New Hanover), and Tom McInnis (R-Moore) defended their seats. Former Republican State Senator Buck Newton defeated incumbent Democrat State Senator Toby Fitch (D-Wilson) to take Senate District 4, which encompasses Greene, Wayne, and Wilson counties. Former State House member and recently appointed State Senator Bobby Hanig (R-Currituck) held off a challenge by Democratic challenger Valerie Jordan to hold Senate District 3 in northeastern North Carolina.
On the Democratic side, incumbent Sydney Batch (D-Wake) defended her seat in a hotly contested three-way race against Republican Mark Cavaliero and Libertarian Patrick Bowersox in Wake County. Democratic House member Rachel Hunt (D-Mecklenburg) also won an open-seat Senate race in Mecklenburg County, as did Democrat Mary Wills Bode in Wake County.
Going into the election, Republicans held 69 seats in the 120-member State House—three seats shy of the 72 needed for a veto-proof supermajority. According to unofficial results, Republicans have won 71 seats in the House, just one seat short of a supermajority. In the most competitive State House races, incumbent Republicans John Bradford (R-Mecklenburg), Ted Davis (R-New Hanover), John Faircloth (R-Guilford), Jon Hardister (R-Guilford), Chris Humphrey (R-Lenoir), Erin Paré (R-Wake), Diane Wheatley (R-Cumberland), and Jeff Zenger (R-Forsyth) defended their seats.
Republican challengers also upended Democratic incumbents in five House races. Former Republican State House member Stephen Ross defeated incumbent Democrat Ricky Hurtado in a rematch in House District 63 in Alamance County. Republican challenger Timothy Reeder took out incumbent Democrat Brian Farkas in House District 9 in Pitt County. Republican Bill Ward bested incumbent Democrat Howard Hunter in House District 5 in northeastern North Carolina. Republican Allen Chesser beat incumbent Democrat James Gailliard in House District 25 in Nash County. And Republican Ken Fontenot took the victory over incumbent Democrat Linda Cooper-Suggs in House District 24 in Wilson and a portion of Nash counties. Additionally, Republican Jarrod Lowery won in an open-seat contest against Democrat Charles Townsend in House District 47 in Robeson County.
On the Democratic side, incumbent Democrat Terence Everitt (R-Wake) defended his seat in a three-way race in Wake County against Republican Fred Von Canon and Libertarian Joseph Serio. Democrats Laura Budd and Diamond Staton-Williams also captured open-seat races in Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties, respectively.
At this point, it is uncertain what these overall margins of victory will mean. While the State Senate appears to have captured just enough seats to secure a veto-proof supermajority, the State House is one vote short. This means GOP lawmakers will have to work across the aisle to garner the necessary vote(s) to override Governor Cooper’s veto, which is expected to come into play on just about any legislation addressing abortion, school choice, parental rights, human sexuality and LGBTQ issues; the budget, and other significant matters. Based on the final outcome of pending federal races, similar dynamics are likely to exist in Washington D.C. as well.
