The 2018 North Carolina Senate elections elected 50 members to serve in the North Carolina Senate for a two-year term starting in January 2019. The Democratic Party gained six seats in this election, ending the Republican supermajority that they had held since 2011 in the state senate.
52.98% of registered voters cast ballots in this election, marking the highest turnout for a midterm election in North Carolina since 1990.
Results summary DistrictIncumbent PartyElectedParty 1st New seat Bob Steinburg Rep 2nd Norman Sanderson Rep Norman Sanderson Rep 3rd Erica Smith Dem Erica Smith Dem Bill Cook† Rep 4th Toby Fitch Dem Toby Fitch Dem 5th Don Davis Dem Don Davis Dem 6th Harry Brown Rep Harry Brown Rep 7th Louis Pate Rep Louis Pate Rep 8th Bill Rabon Rep Bill Rabon Rep 9th Michael Lee Rep Harper Peterson Dem 10th Brent Jackson Rep Brent Jackson Rep 11th Rick Horner Rep Rick Horner Rep 12th Ronald Rabin† Rep Jim Burgin Rep 13th Danny Britt Rep Danny Britt Rep 14th Dan Blue Dem Dan Blue Dem 15th Jay Chaudhuri Dem Jay Chaudhuri Dem 16th New seat Wiley Nickel Dem 17th Tamara Barringer Rep Sam Searcy Dem 18th John Alexander Rep John Alexander Rep Chad Barefoot† Rep 19th Wesley Meredith Rep Kirk deViere Dem 20th Floyd McKissick Jr. Dem Floyd McKissick Jr. Dem 21st Ben Clark Dem Ben Clark Dem 22nd Mike Woodard Dem Mike Woodard Dem 23rd Valerie Foushee Dem Valerie Foushee Dem 24th Rick Gunn Rep Rick Gunn Rep 25th Tom McInnis Rep Tom McInnis Rep 26th Jerry Tillman Rep Jerry Tillman Rep 27th Trudy Wade Rep Michael Garrett Dem 28th Gladys Robinson Dem Gladys Robinson Dem 29th Cathy Dunn† Rep Eddie Gallimore Rep 30th Phil Berger Rep Phil Berger Rep 31st Joyce Krawiec Rep Joyce Krawiec Rep Dan Barrett Rep 32nd Paul Lowe Jr. Dem Paul Lowe Jr. Dem 33rd New seat Carl Ford Rep 34th New seat Vickie Sawyer Rep 35th Tommy Tucker† Rep Todd Johnson Rep 36th Paul Newton Rep Paul Newton Rep 37th Jeff Jackson Dem Jeff Jackson Dem 38th Joel Ford Dem Mujtaba Mohammed Dem 39th Dan Bishop Rep Dan Bishop Rep 40th Joyce Waddell Dem Joyce Waddell Dem 41st Jeff Tarte Rep Natasha Marcus Dem 42nd Andy Wells Rep Andy Wells Rep 43rd Kathy Harrington Rep Kathy Harrington Rep 44th David Curtis Rep Ted Alexander Rep 45th Deanna Ballard Rep Deanna Ballard Rep Shirley Randleman Rep 46th Warren Daniel Rep Warren Daniel Rep 47th Ralph Hise Rep Ralph Hise Rep 48th Chuck Edwards Rep Chuck Edwards Rep 49th Terry Van Duyn Dem Terry Van Duyn Dem 50th Jim Davis Rep Jim Davis Rep † - Incumbent not seeking re-election
Party Candi-dates Votes Seats No. % No. +/– % Republican 50 1,816,854 48.995% 29 6 58% Democratic 50 1,856,838 50.074% 21 6 42% Libertarian 14 33,219 0.896% 0 0% Constitution 1 1,301 0.035% 0 0%Total 115 3,708,212 100% 50 100%
Close races Districts where the margin of victory was under 10%: District 9, 0.27% (gain) District 19, 0.74% (gain) District 27, 1.04% (gain) District 18, 2.55% District 17, 4.25% (gain) District 39, 5.78% District 1, 6.42% District 3, 7.72% District 24, 7.72% District 7, 7.8%
Incumbents defeated in primary election Shirley Randleman (R-District 30), lost a redistricting race to Deanna Ballard (R-District 45) Dan Barrett (R-District 34), lost a redistricting race to Joyce Krawiec (R-District 31) Joel Ford (D-District 38), defeated by Mujtaba Mohammed (D) David Curtis (R-District 44), defeated by Ted Alexander (R)
Incumbents defeated in general election Michael Lee (R-District 9), defeated by Harper Peterson (D) Tamara Barringer (R-District 17), defeated by Sam Searcy (D) Wesley Meredith (R-District 19), defeated by Kirk deViere (D) Trudy Wade (R-District 27), defeated by Michael Garrett (D) Jeff Tarte (R-District 41), defeated by Natasha Marcus (D)
Open seats that changed parties Jay Chaudhuri (D-District 16), instead ran in the 15th district, seat won by Wiley Nickel (D)
Predictions SourceRankingAs of Governing | October 8, 2018
Detailed results
Districts 1–25 District 1 The new 1st district has no incumbent. Representative Bob Steinburg won the open seat.
District 2 Incumbent Republican Norman Sanderson had represented the 2nd district since 2013.
District 3 The new 3rd district includes the home Incumbent Democrat Erica Smith, who had represented the 3rd district since 2015, and incumbent Republican Bill Cook had represented the 1st district since 2013. Cook didn't seek re-election while Smith was re-elected here.
District 4 Incumbent Democrat Toby Fitch had represented the 4th district since 2018. Fitch won his first full term.
District 5 Incumbent Democrat Don Davis had represented the 5th district since 2013 and previously from 2009 to 2011.
District 6 Incumbent Republican Majority Leader Harry Brown had represented the 6th district since 2004. District 6 had the lowest number of votes cast in any district election in 2018.
District 7 Incumbent Republican Louis Pate had represented the 7th district and its predecessors since 2011.
District 8 Incumbent Republican Bill Rabon had represented the 8th district since 2011.
District 9 Incumbent Republican Michael Lee had represented the 9th district since 2014. Lee was defeated for re-election by Democrat Harper Peterson.
District 10 Incumbent Republican Brent Jackson had represented the 10th district since 2011.
District 11 Incumbent Republican Rick Horner had represented the 11th district since 2017.
District 12 Incumbent Republican Ronald Rabin had represented the 12th district since 2013. Rabin did not seek re-election. Republican Jim Burgin won the open seat.
District 13 Incumbent Republican Danny Britt had represented the 13th district since 2017.
District 14 Incumbent Democrat Dan Blue had represented the 14th district since 2009.
District 15 Following redistricting, the old 16th district became the new 15th district. Incumbent Democrat Jay Chaudhuri who had represented the 16th district since 2016, successfully sought re-election. Brian Lewis won the highest percentage vote of any Libertarian State Senate candidate in 2018, with 3.61%.
District 16 Following redistricting, the new 16th district is an open seat which is expected to favor Democrats. Brian Irving won the highest number of votes of any Libertarian State Senate candidate in 2018 with 3,382 votes.
District 17 Incumbent Republican Tamara Barringer had represented the 17th district since 2013. Following redistricting, this seat was made more competitive. Barringer lost re-election to Democrat Sam Searcy.
District 18 Following redistricting, Incumbent Republicans Chad Barefoot and John Alexander had their homes both drawn into the new 18th district. The new 18th district, unlike the former 15th and 18th districts, is a competitive district which isn't safe for either party. Chad Barefoot retired, while John Alexander narrowly won re-election. The election in District 18 had the highest number of votes cast of any district election in the 2018 elections.
District 19 Incumbent Republican Wesley Meredith had represented the 19th district since 2011. Meredith lost re-election to Democrat Kirk deViere.
District 20 Incumbent Democrat Floyd McKissick Jr. had represented the 20th district since 2007.
District 21 Incumbent Democrat Ben Clark had represented the 21st district since 2013.
District 22 Incumbent Democrat Mike Woodard had represented the 22nd district since 2013.
District 23 Incumbent Democrat Valerie Foushee had represented the 23rd district since 2013.
District 24 Incumbent Republican Rick Gunn had represented the 24th district since 2011.
District 25 Incumbent Republican Tom McInnis had represented the 25th district since 2015.
Districts 26–50 District 26 Following redistricting, the old 29th district became the new 26th district. Incumbent Republican Jerry Tillman, who had represented the 29th district since 2003, successfully sought re-election here.
District 27 Incumbent Republican Trudy Wade had represented the 27th district since 2013. Wade lost re-election to Democrat Michael Garrett.
District 28 Incumbent Democrat Gladys Robinson had represented the 28th district since 2011. This district had the largest margin of any district election in 2018.
District 29 Following redistricting, the new 29th district overlaps with much of the former 33rd district. Incumbent Republican Cathy Dunn, who had represented the 33rd district since 2017, did not seek re-election. Eddie Gallimore defeated representative Sam Watford to win the Republican nomination, and easily won the general election.
District 30 Following redistricting, most of the old 26th district became the new 30th district. Incumbent Republican president pro tempore Phil Berger, who had represented the 26th district and its predecessors since 2001, successfully sought re-election here.
District 31 Incumbent Republicans Joyce Krawiec, who had represented the 31st district since 2014, and Dan Barrett, who had represented the 34th district since his appointment in August 2017, sought re-election here. Krawiec narrowly defeated Barrett in the Republican primary, and easily won the general election.
District 32 Incumbent Democrat Paul Lowe Jr. had represented the 32nd district since 2015.
District 33 After redistricting, the old 33rd district became the new 29th district, and a new 33rd district was created. The new district includes Rowan County and Stanly County. State representative Carl Ford was the Republican nominee.
District 34 Incumbent Republican Dan Barrett had represented the 34th district since his appointment in August 2017. Barrett chose to seek re-election in the 31st district after his home in Davie County was drawn into that district. The new 34th district includes Iredell and Yadkin counties, and was expected to favor Republicans. Republican Vickie Sawyer was elected to a full term here, though after already winning the GOP primary for this seat, she had been appointed to serve the balance of David Curtis's term in the 44th district.
District 35 Incumbent Republican Tommy Tucker had represented the 35th district since 2011. Tucker did not seek re-election.
District 36 Incumbent Republican Paul Newton had represented the 36th district since 2017.
District 37 Incumbent Democrat Jeff Jackson had represented the 37th district since 2014.
District 38 Incumbent Democrat Joel Ford had represented the 38th district since 2013. Ford lost the Democratic primary to Mujtaba Mohammed, who easily won the general election.
District 39 Incumbent Republican Dan Bishop had represented the 39th district since 2017.
District 40 Incumbent Democrat Joyce Waddell had represented the 40th district since 2015.
District 41 Incumbent Republican Jeff Tarte had represented the 41st district since 2013. Tarte lost re-election to Democrat Natasha Marcus.
District 42 Incumbent Republican Andy Wells had represented the 42nd district since 2015.
District 43 Incumbent Republican Kathy Harrington had represented the 43rd district since 2011.
District 44 Incumbent Republican David Curtis had represented the 44th district since 2013. Curtis lost re-nomination to fellow Republican Ted Alexander. Curtis resigned before the end of his term, and Vickie Sawyer was appointed to replace him. Alexander easily won the open seat here, while Sawyer was simultaneously elected to the newly created 34th district which contained her home.
District 45 Following redistricting, incumbent Republicans Deanna Ballard and Shirley Randleman had both of their homes drawn into the 45th district. The district was more Ballard's district than Randleman's, and Ballard defeated Randleman in the Republican primary. Ballard easily won the general election.
District 46 Incumbent Republican Warren Daniel had represented the 46th district and its predecessors since 2011.
District 47 Incumbent Republican Ralph Hise had represented the 47th district since 2011.
District 48 Incumbent Republican Chuck Edwards had represented the 48th district since 2016.
District 49