He wasn’t on the ballot, but the biggest winner on primary Election Night may have been Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. The governor’s veto power just got quite a bit stronger, as several “swing” Democratic state legislators lost handily to challengers who have pledged party loyalty.
In northeastern North Carolina, Patricia Smith defeated Rep. Shelly Willingham, D-Edgecombe, by an 11-point margin, and Rep. Rodney Pierce, D-Halifax, kept his seat in a 2024 rematch against swing Democrat Michael Wray by 29 percentage points. In Charlotte, Veleria Levy ousted Rep. Nasif Majeed with 69% of the vote, and Rev. Rodney Sadler earned 70% of the vote against Rep. Carla Cunningham.
[Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.]
While incumbents were backed by name recognition from years in the General Assembly and money from political action committees, it didn’t matter this time around.
Sitting at a table at Sofie’s Steakhouse, after his supporters went home, Sadler reflected on the sweep by Democratic challengers. Money doesn’t win elections, he said; people do, and they have spoken.
“There is a groundswell of change taking place, not just in North Carolina, but North Carolina has always been the litmus test for what takes place across the country,” Sadler said.
“The country is changing, and the country is waking up. This is the 250th anniversary of our democracy, and I think that the people are saying, we want to keep the democracy.”
Primary turnout
Precinct officials and electioneers across the state used one word repeatedly to describe Tuesday’s turnout: “steady.”
Following high levels of early voting that nearly exceeded the 2024 presidential primary, Election Day was a bit slower.
Overall, 19.5% of registered voters cast ballots in the primary election — about half voted early. That’s just shy of the 2022 midterm primary’s 19.8% turnout, and higher than the average midterm primary turnout.
Across the state, voters, election watchers and precinct officials credited local races for sheriff, county commissioner and a few high-profile state legislative races for much of the attention.
Election officials reported few issues Tuesday. Besides the usual confusion of voters who show up at the wrong precinct and have to be redirected to the right location, everything appeared to run smoothly.
Berger vs. Page
Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page spent $51,736 on his primary campaign, not including outside spending by third-party political groups, according to State Board of Elections data.
Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, who has led the state legislature for 15 years, spent $2.26 million.
After all votes were tallied election night, the two were separated by two votes, with Page leading.
The results are not final; during the period before the canvass on March 13, election officials will determine which provisional ballots should be counted in the race, and may have absentee votes received on Election Day left to count. However, the closeness of the race makes a recount nearly inevitable.
Fire station #28 in Gibsonville, N.C., is tucked between miles-long stretches of farmland where cows leisurely graze. Tuesday afternoon, one couple was inside, voting. Precinct judge Ann Hillman said they’d received 96 primary voters, with a goal of 125.
While the rural site was one of the “slower” voting places, Hillman said the residents haven’t escaped the all-consuming battle between Berger and Page. Both are mainstays in the community; Page, a 28-year sheriff, and Berger, a 26-year state legislator.
Hillman said she has been receiving about four flyers for Berger or Page a day.
In the Rockingham County town of Madison, the choice was on most voters’ minds. One voter, Sandy, said she’s tired of “nonstop” ads. She’s not sure ads are truthful, and would prefer politicians stop “picking on one another” so much.
She’s also skeptical of the district’s current representation. She said she prayed about it a lot before casting her primary ballot.
“We tend to get where we elect the same guys over and over again,” Sandy said. “They start out well, I feel like they are concerned with local situations and issues and stuff among people, and then the longer they’ve been in office, you tend to go, ‘Hmm, not so sure anymore.’”
Laura, a 25-year teacher, was on the same page.
“I haven’t had a pay raise as a teacher in two years thanks to somebody,” she said, referring to Berger.
She wants someone to look after teachers, particularly veteran teachers, and thinks Page is the better man for the job.
On the other side, Rockingham County Commissioner Mark Richardson wants to keep the county’s “good track record” going.
“Mr. Berger is very important,” Richardson said. “And I know both folks personally. Berger is supremely competent, and it’s meant a whole lot to our county. He’s primarily responsible for our economic health, not just in this county, but throughout the state.”
Page, conversely, has overseen a jail which has experienced issues in recent years, including several officers accused of wrongdoing, deaths from drug overdoses, a loss of liability insurance and ongoing investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, Richardson noted.
“I really think that’s because our sheriff has not been here watching the pot,” Richardson said. “I’ve known him, and I’ve supported him every year since I’ve come back into this county, but not this time.”
While dissatisfaction with Page’s work as sheriff has been a key talking point among Berger’s supporters, Republican voters in Rockingham County seem not to have gotten that memo. The sheriff had a landslide victory in the home county for both veteran politicians with about 67% of the vote.
However, in the portions of adjacent Guilford County that are also part of the district, and where Page had a significant disadvantage in name recognition, Berger had about 68% of the vote, leading to the near tie in the final tally across both counties.
Congressional primary battles
One of the night’s first declared victories came from the expected U.S. Senate nominees: former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley, who both easily sailed to their respective party wins.
On the U.S. House of Representatives side, each of the 13 incumbents running kept their seats.
It was close for U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee, who faced Nida Allam, a Muslim progressive Democrat who labeled herself as a more vocal opponent to President Donald Trump, Israel and artificial intelligence than Foushee. With all precincts reporting, Foushee led by just over 1,200 votes. Because that margin still represents less than 1% of the votes cast in that race, it could go to a recount, depending on how the margin changes with late-arriving absentee by-mail ballots and any provisional ballots.
At Durham’s South Regional Library, voter Graham Levy said the U.S. Congressional primary race between incumbent Foushee and challenger Allam was their primary motivation for voting Tuesday afternoon.
Levy told Carolina Public Press that they were concerned about the flow of millions of dollars of PAC money into that race, particularly Foushee’s campaign, and wanted to support Allam for that reason.
Foushee has historically been supported by PACs connected to Israel, and this year, by artificial intelligence groups.
Most Congressional races will officially be decided in November. In the 11th Congressional District, Democratic candidate Jamie Ager secured his party’s nomination in a crowded field.
He will face U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, who has been the subject of criticism over Hurricane Helene recovery. National Democrats put their support behind Ager as one of the candidates who may be able to flip national Republican seats, before the primary, which was a controversial move for some in the party.
On the Republican side, Laurie Buckhout defeated four opponents in her bid to run against Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis in November. Last year, state legislators redistricted Davis’ seat to give Republicans a better shot at winning. Asa Buck placed second and State. Sen. Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, placed third in the contest.
Cunningham loses to Sadler
As the sun set over Mallard Creek Elementary, electioneers supporting Sadler and Cunningham huddled together in the cold.
The site got about 400 voters by 7 p.m., according to the precinct judge. One of those voters, Toye Watson, said voting against Cunningham was her primary motivation for showing up.
While she respects Cunningham as a person, she thinks the representative no longer aligns with the district’s beliefs. Watson referred to Cunningham’s controversial floor speech about immigration, during which she said “all cultures are not equal” and appeared to pit Black North Carolinians against immigrants.
“I feel like it’s divisive in a way that does not propel society forward in any kind of way,” Watson said. “I don’t think that what my ancestors did in any way is reduced by the immigrants’ presence. I think that we’re all building on a foundation together.”
A bit later, another primary voter, Brian, expressed his support for Cunningham. He said he votes for people who are qualified for the position.
“I supported Carla Cunningham because I value the independent thought and the willingness to move away from her party in this election,” he said. “While there has been some controversy around her stance, I do appreciate the fact that she is not scared — that is something that is unique in elected officials today, because they typically follow the party line.”
Brian’s view of the race was clearly in the minority on Tuesday. Sadler defeated Cunningham with an overwhelming majority.
At his victory party, dozens of supporters donned in purple cheered him on and prayed with him after the results came out.
“The time of governance by fear, governance by hatred, governance by scapegoating, and governance by division is over. It’s now time for new politics based upon love, based upon lifting up those who’ve been left out.”
the Rev. Rodney Sadler of Charlotte, following his Democratic primary election victory for NC House
Lisa Hazirjian, with NC Sierra Club, said they were excited to have a candidate who didn’t just “talk the talk” on environmental issues.
“To have that contrast with someone who has been siding with Duke Energy, who doesn’t care about the environment and doesn’t care about affordability, was perfect.”
Mecklenburg County Commissioner Yvette Townsend-Ingram said Sadler is a man of purpose and action who has the power to bring the state Democratic caucus back together.
“Because in order to get anything done, even though we’re in the minority, we still have to have consensus,” she said.
Sadler, for his part, doesn’t quite know how to feel after the primary victory. He was overwhelmed by the support.
He does know one thing, he said.
“The time of governance by fear, governance by hatred, governance by scapegoating, and governance by division is over,” he said. “It’s now time for new politics based upon love, based upon lifting up those who’ve been left out.”
CPP reporter Lucas Thomae also contributed to this article.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may republish our stories for free, online or in print. Simply copy and paste the article contents from the box below. Note, some images and interactive features may not be included here.
