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The race to replace North Carolina’s Third District Congressman Walter B. Jones, Jr., who passed away last month, is well underway and features a full slate of 26 candidates. The filing period for this Eastern North Carolina district closed last Friday, March 8, and the primary election is scheduled for Tuesday, April 30. The general election will be held on Tuesday, July 9, unless the leading candidate in any of the primary races fails to obtain more than 30 percent of the vote. If this happens, a runoff second primary may be held on Tuesday, July 9, and then the general election will take place on Tuesday, September 10.

Based on information obtained from the State Board of Elections, the following is the official list of candidates who filed to run in this special election:

DEMOCRATIC:

• Richard Bew, Newport
• Gregory Humphrey, Beulaville
• Ike Johnson, Jacksonville
• Dana E. Outlaw, New Bern
• Ernest T. Reeves, Greenville
• Allen Thomas, Winterville

REPUBLICAN:

• Kevin Baiko, Moyoc
• Paul Beaumont, Shawboro
• Graham Boyd, Wake Forest
• Celeste Cairns, Emerald Isle
• Gary Ceres, Greenville
• Chimer Davis Clark, Jr., Morehead City
• Don Cox, Belhaven
• Francis X. DeLuca, Cary
• Phil Law, Jacksonville
• Jeff Moore, Raleigh
• Greg Murphy, Greenville
• Michele Nix, Kinston
• Mike Payment, Grandy
• Joan Perry, Kinston
• Eric Rouse, Kinston
• Phil Shepard, Jacksonville
• Michael Speciale, New Bern

CONSTITUTION:

• Greg Holt, New Bern

LIBERTARIAN:

• Shannon W. Bray, Apex
• Tim Harris, New Bern

North Carolina law does not require candidates for the U.S. House to live in the district in which they are running. According to a residential address search on the NC General Assembly’s Find Your Legislators Page, five of the contenders in this race live outside the 3rd District: Democrat Ernest T. Reeves; Republicans Graham Boyd, Francis DeLuca, Jeff Moore; and Libertarian Shannon Bray.

In addition, three of the candidates are currently serving members in the N.C. House of Representatives: Republicans Greg Murphy, Phil Shepard, and Michael Speciale. These representatives can continue to serve in their current offices while running in this special election.

U.S. House District 9 Update:
The filing period for the special election to fill North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District seat is currently open and scheduled to close this Friday, March 15. The primary election in this district is scheduled for Tuesday, May 14, and a second runoff primary may be held on Tuesday, September 10 if the leading candidate in any of the primary races fails to obtain more than 30 percent of the vote. The general election is scheduled for Tuesday, September 10 if no second primary is required. If a second primary is required, the general election will take place on Tuesday, November 5, 2019.