Election filing in NC ends. Where are candidates running for Congress in new districts?
North Carolina voters now know whose names will appear on their ballots in the 2022 election.
At noon Friday, the North Carolina Board of Elections ended the state’s filing period that began on Feb. 24 with more than 100 candidates signed up to run for the state’s 14 congressional seats.
Only 12 hours before the filing period began, the N.C. Supreme Court approved boundaries for the state’s congressional districts to replace those the court found were drawn to give Republicans an unfair advantage.
That left a week for more than 80 candidates who intended to file to figure out how the new districts might affect their campaign or whether they should run at all. It also allowed some unexpected names to enter the race, like former state Sen. Sam Searcy, and blocked candidates like N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore and Rep. John Szoka from running.
Filing had already begun in December when the state Supreme Court abruptly announced that it would delay the primary from March to May 17 in order to review the maps. That led to an immediate halt on filing.
In early February, the state Supreme Court told legislators that they had two weeks to redraw a fair congressional map that needed to be approved by a trial court before the election moved forward. On Feb. 23, the trial court said the lawmakers hadn’t done enough and the 2022 election would operate under districts created for the judges.
For the congressional candidates who managed to file in December, they had until March 1 to withdraw their campaigns if they chose.
As of March 4, here is the list of candidates who have filed:
DISTRICT 1
Counties: Bertie, Chowan, Edgecombe, Franklin, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Hertford, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, Vance, Warren, Washington, Wilson and part of Pitt.
Constituents’ political leaning: Democrat
Incumbents: G.K. Butterfield, who is retiring, and Greg Murphy, who filed to run in the 3rd District.
Democrats: Jullian Bishop Sr., Don Davis, Erica Smith and Jason Spriggs
Republicans: Brent Roberson, Sandy Roberson, Brad Murphy, Will Aiken, Sandy Smith, Billy Strickland, Henry Williams II and Ernest Reeves
DISTRICT 2
Counties: Part of Wake.
Constituents’ political leaning: Democrat
Incumbent: Deborah Ross
Democrats: Ross
Republicans: Christine Villaverde, Adina Safta and Max Ganorkar
DISTRICT 3
Counties: Beaufort, Camden, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow, Pamlico, Sampson and parts of Pitt and Wayne.
Constituents’ political leaning: Republican
Incumbent: None
Democrats: Joe Swartz and Barbara Gaskins
Republicans: Greg Murphy, George Papastrat, Brian Friend, Tony Cowden and Eric Earhart
DISTRICT 4
Counties: Alamance, Durham, Granville, Orange and Person and part of Caswell.
Constituents’ political leaning: Democrat
Incumbent: David Price, who is retiring.
Democrats: Ashley Ward, Stephen Valentine, Richard Watkins, Crystal Cavalier, Nida Allam, Valerie Foushee and Matt Grooms and Clay Aiken
Republicans: Robert Thomas and Courtney Geels
DISTRICT 5
Counties: Alleghany, Alexander, Ashe, Avery, Davie, Mitchell, Stokes, Surry, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin and parts of Caldwell and Forsyth.
Constituents’ political leaning: Republican
Incumbents: Virginia Foxx and Ted Budd
Democrats: Kyle Parrish
Republicans: Foxx and Michael Ackerman
DISTRICT 6
Counties: Guilford, Rockingham and parts of Caswell and Forsyth.
Constituents’ political leaning: Democrat
Incumbent: Kathy Manning
Democrats: Manning
Republicans: Bill Schuch, Laura Pichardo, Gerry Austin, Marvin Boguslawski, Lee Haywood, Christian Castelli and Mary Ann Contogiannis
Libertarian: Thomas Watercott
DISTRICT 7
Counties: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender, Robeson and part of Cumberland.
Constituents’ political leaning: Republican
Incumbent: David Rouzer
Democrats: Yushonda Midgette, Charles Evans, Steve Miller and Charles Graham
Republicans: Rouzer and Max Southworth-Beckwith
DISTRICT 8
Counties: Anson, Davidson, Montgomery, Rowan, Stanly, Union and parts of Cabarrus and Richmond.
Constituents’ political leaning: Republican
Incumbent: None.
Democrats: Scott Huffman
Republicans: Dan Bishop
DISTRICT 9
Counties: Chatham, Hoke, Lee, Moore, Scotland, Randolph and parts of Cumberland, Harnett and Richmond.
Constituents’ political leaning: Republican
Incumbent: Richard Hudson
Democrats: Ben Clark
Republicans: Hudson, Jen Bucardo, Francisco Rios and Mike Andriani
DISTRICT 10
Counties: Alexander, Burke, Catawba, Cleveland, Iredell, Lincoln and parts of Caldwell, Gaston and Rutherford.
Constituents’ political leaning: Republican
Incumbent: Patrick McHenry
Democrats: Pam Genant and Michael Felder
Republicans: McHenry, Richard Speer, Jeff Gregory, Michael Magnotta and Gary Robinson
DISTRICT 11
Counties: Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Yancey and part of Henderson.
Constituents’ political leaning: Republican
Incumbent: Madison Cawthorn
Democrats: Katie Dean, Bo Hess, Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Marco Gutierrez, Bynum Lunsford and Jay Carey
Libertarian: David Coatney
Republicans: Cawthorn, Bruce O’Connell, Wendy Nevarez, Matthew Burril, Chuck Edwards, Rod Honeycutt, Michele Woodhouse and Kristie Sluder
DISTRICT 12
Counties: Parts of Mecklenburg and Cabarrus.
Constituents’ political leaning: Democrat
Incumbent: Richard Hudson, who announced he would run in the 9th District.
Democrats: Alma Adams and John Sharkey
Republicans: Nalini Joseph, Andrew Huffman and Tyler Lee
DISTRICT 13
Counties: Johnston and parts of Harnett, Wake and Wayne.
Constituents’ political leaning: Swing
Incumbent: None
Democrats: Wiley Nickel, Nathan Click, Denton Lee, Sam Searcy and Jamie Bowles
Republicans: Chad Slotta, DeVan Barbour, Kelly Daughtry, Kent Keirsey, Bo Hines, Jessica Morel, Renee Ellmers and Kevin Wolff
DISTRICT 14
Counties: Parts of Gaston and Mecklenburg.
Constituents’ political leaning: Democrat
Incumbent: Adams, who filed to run in the 12th District, and Dan Bishop, who filed to run in the 8th District.
Democrats: Ram Mammadov and Jeff Jackson
Republicans: Jonathan Simpson and Pat Harrigan
This story was originally published February 19, 2022 at 8:30 AM with the headline "Election filing in NC ends. Where are candidates running for Congress in new districts?."
