LIVE: Decker and Hopkins Flip Wake House Seats for Democrats

Overheard at the Wake County Democratic Party election night watch party: “Remember how sad 2024 was? Oh god, it felt like a member of my family had died.”

This year is a different story. Things are looking very good for the Wake Democrats, and they’re taking a gleeful victory lap. 

“I want y’all to know, this is an apocalyptic event for the Republican Party,” Wake Dems chair Wesley Knott crowed to a cheering audience of a couple hundred at The Rialto Theater in Raleigh. 

“How many of you are here for the Erin Paré retirement party?” deadpanned Wake Attorney General-elect Wiley Nickel. And indeed a few minutes later, the crowd learned that Democrat Winn Decker has defeated incumbent Republican state Rep. Paré in southern Wake County with 13 out of 14 precincts reporting.

Meanwhile, in northern Wake County, Democrat Evonne Hopkins looks to have flipped another state house district. Upon learning of this development, a campaign volunteer led the assembled crowd in a rendition of “Another One Bites the Dust” to bid adieu to outgoing Republican Rep. Mike Schietzelt.

The elected officials here at the Rialto—including Congresswoman Deborah Ross, State Rep. Phil Rubin, and State Sen. Haseeb Fatmi—are crediting Knott’s organizing efforts for the Democrats’ clean sweep here in Wake. Since becoming chair in 2025, Knott has hired more staff, recruited more volunteers, and established a track record of winning local races. 

“This is the best county party in the entire country,” Ross declared from the stage.

Fatmi, who is here with his wife Erin, just told the audience Knott was the first person to learn they were expecting a baby, because it was a factor in Fatmi’s decision to run for office. “He kept it a secret for months and months,” Fatmi said. “He’s a good man. He knows what he’s doing.”

“I don’t just want to win,” Knott said. “I want to win with such large margins that Republicans quit trying in Wake County.”

When the new members of the North Carolina General Assembly are sworn in next year, the state’s most populous county will have zero Republicans representing it in Raleigh.

Incumbent state Reps. Mike Schietzelt and Erin Paré, the two remaining Republican members of Wake County’s state legislative delegation, lost to political newcomers Evonne Hopkins and Winn Decker in House Districts 35 and 37, respectively. (And in Wake’s only competitive state Senate district this cycle, Sen. Haseeb Fatmi, who was appointed to state Senate District 18 in May, defeated Republican challenger Chris Stock.) 

House District 35 includes parts of Garner, Fuquay-Varina, and Holly Springs while House District 37 includes portions of north Raleigh, Rolesville and Wake Forest. Both districts slightly favored Republicans when they were drawn, but by this year, both were considered true toss-ups. In a good night for Democrats nationally, Hopkins, a family law attorney, and Decker, a public policy analyst, coasted to victory. 

Paré, a three-term incumbent, fought an ugly campaign against Decker, featuring attacks on social media that were often misleading, invoking culture war tropes and personal insults. 

Schietzelt, a one-term incumbent who clerked for former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Mark Martin and made social media posts questioning the 2020 election outcome, sought to brand himself as a moderate. 

Both Paré and Schietzelt campaigned on lowering the cost of living and supporting public education, but their efforts weren’t enough this year: Wake County is now younger and bluer than it has ever been before. What that means for how it’s governed at the state level remains to be seen, particularly as the state House itself is on the verge of flipping out of Republican hands.

The televisions at EO’s sports bar in Durham were plastered with a different style of competition tonight as a crowd of onlookers stared anxiously at the election results rolling into focus. A who’s who of elected officials and political organizers were gathered for the People’s Alliance watch party to celebrate what they hoped would be a “blue wave” across the country. With Roy Cooper and Anita Earls comfortably seated in their respective U.S. Senate and State Supreme Court races, much of the enthusiasm in the room shifted towards other Senate races in states like South Carolina, Texas and Kansas.

County Commissioner Chair Mike Lee said he was there to “watch some good news with good people,” before I pestered him about the data center presentation on deck for the joint city-county planning tomorrow morning.

Enthusiasm throughout the bar was palpable, but a few folks in the crowd that I spoke with were frustrated that the constitutional amendments did not ride the blue-nami that did end up sweeping the nation. Teachers, in particular, at both an earlier watch party at Motorco and at EOs told me that the limit on tax revenue will seriously hamper school operations, but that picking up Democratic seats in state and national races could help turn the tides for education in the coming years. 

It was a family affair Tuesday night at Motorco Music Hall where Durham For All, a local chapter of Carolina Federation, hosted an election watch party to ring in the night’s results. Arts and crafts kept the kiddos occupied while the adults tried to tamper their election anxieties with a beverage and light conversation.

With most local races uncontested or uncompetitive, folks were locked into the U.S. Senate race, state Supreme Court race, and the three constitutional amendments on the ballot.

I spoke to two Carolina Federation volunteers, Varun and Amy, who said that they and other Carolina Federation organizers knocked on over 600,000 doors across North Carolina ahead of the election.

Before results started to flash on the large screen hanging from the stage, dozens of Carolina Federation canvassers filed to the front of the room to rousing applause from the crowd. They had, the lead organizer said, helped craft resolutions against the constitution amendments, passed out yard signs, and galvanized thousands of voters to show up at the polls in support of working class causes.

Jennifer Frye, co-director of Carolina Federation, grabbed the mic to lay out her vision for Durham’s future, and invite people to join Durham For All. Without hesitation, two tween girls thrust their hands into the air, screaming, “I’m ready!”

I arrived at The Raleigh Times in downtown Raleigh just as the State Board of Elections published early voting results for the city council elections. To no one’s surprise, Mayor Janet Cowell is leading her challenger, newcomer Ashleigh Heath Armstrong, by an insurmountable 70 percentage points. 

“I feel like we’ve had a good start, we’re going in the right direction, but there’s still a lot more to do,” Cowell said of her time so far as mayor.

Before she was elected mayor in 2024, Cowell served as a Raleigh city council member, state senator, and state treasurer. Her next term will be four years instead of two, which she said is “a much more appropriate time frame for a city.” It frees her up to do less fundraising and campaigning and more governing. 

“I’ve learned a lot in the last two years, even though I’ve served before,” she said. “Understanding the dynamics of staff, understanding—there’s a lot to know about how to pull levers.”

This is a night of celebration for Cowell, with at least one caveat. She said she expects North Carolina voters to approve a proposed constitutional amendment to impose a property tax levy limit, which could affect Raleigh and other municipalities’ ability to raise taxes and provide services. 

“That’s obviously the biggest unknown that will dramatically affect our budget and everything we do,” Cowell said. She expects the General Assembly to convene a special session soon to move forward on the levy limit before the new crop of electeds get sworn in. She added that she’s excited to see the U.S. Senate race called for Roy Cooper, because Raleigh needs federal partners for transportation funding. 

Side note: The Raleigh Times is a restaurant and bar, but the building previously housed a local newspaper that circulated until 1989. The walls are covered in framed front pages spanning decades of local history. There are a few other reporters here, including one who used to work for my hometown newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina. Feels like an auspicious night for journalism!

As the Precinct 37 polling site at Cole Mill Road Church of Christ in Durham prepared to close, residents continued to gradually file in. When voters walked up to the building, a voice greeted them in the evening darkness: “I’m Sophia Chitlik; I’m your state senator. I’m here asking for your vote today.”

Chitlik is running for her second term representing N.C. Senate District 22 against Republican candidate LaKeshia Alston. Although her race isn’t exactly a toss-up in deep blue Durham, Chitlik said she spent the day trying to hit the most well-trafficked polling locations in the district, beginning with Forest Hills this morning. Cole Mill Road was her fourth stop of the day.

“Voter turnout in Durham is so critical, and it’s so critical that people vote the whole ballot,” she said. “I’m out here, of course, asking people for their vote—I never take that for granted—but also making sure that they know how critical our court races are, how critical it is to vote for Roy Cooper … just making sure that people also know about what we do in the legislature.”

Beyond the candidates, on the other side of the ballot lay the three proposed amendments to the state constitution, for which Chitlik said turnout in Durham could play a key role. Most of the polling locations she visited today had canvassers explaining the implications of each, and many voters that arrived were already informed, she said.

One of those canvassers, Northern High School teacher Maggie Radack, was stationed just ahead of Chitlik outside of the church. As a member of the Durham Association of Educators and its partner organization Durham for All, Radack had been telling voters since 5 p.m. why they should vote “no” on all three amendments. 

“My pitch to voters is they’re sneaky, they look good for tax breaks for you and me, but it’s actually not going to help the average working person in North Carolina,” she said. “They’re just going to lock in tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations like Duke Energy, and that’s going to further defund our public schools … and then the ID amendment is just trying to make it hard for folks to vote.”

Ann Riley, the Precinct 37 chair for Durham Democrats, called the amendments “constitutional attacks.” She said many voters she has spoken to didn’t know what the amendments would do if passed. 

She held up a blue framed sign reading “It’s about DURM time to vote” and offered it to Durhamites to pose with as they exited. One voter she photographed, a 26-year-old Durham native, gave her a hug on his way out. It was his second time voting.

“I think it’s important for people our age to put in our vote,” he said. “I think that it’s almost becoming a lost art now, in a way … make your voice heard.”

Polls are closed and early voting results are in for races in Durham and Orange counties. 

The results themselves are to-be-expected. Both counties are blue bubbles, so it’s no surprise that Democrats are ahead up and down the ballot, and most candidates in local races are cruising to victory with little to no opposition. 

Instead, turnout, is shaping up to be the bigger story, especially in Durham, 

According to the Durham County Board of Elections, 33,462 voters had cast ballots on Election Day as of 7:30 p.m. when polls closed (voters in line when polls close can still cast their ballots).

With 112,845 ballots cast in Durham during early voting, that means turnout here has officially surpassed the last midterm election in 2022, when 128,364 ballots were cast overall. 

In Orange, 52,728 voters turned out for early voting this year, compared with 66,669 in the November 2022 election overall.

While local races are foregone conclusions, the high turnout, especially in Durham, could help boost Democrats higher up on the ticket, like former Gov. Roy Cooper, N.C. Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls, and candidates for the state Court of Appeals. About three-quarters of early voters in Durham and Orange voted against the three constitutional amendments on ballots. 

Check out live results for Durham and Orange.

As results start to roll in across North Carolina, we have live results for our readers across the Triangle.

We will continue to update this blog with news and analysis as the night progresses.

• LIVE: Wake County Election Results
• LIVE: Durham County Election Results
• LIVE: Orange County Election Results

In the final hours of voting, candidates in what could be one of Wake County’s closest races were out campaigning in Holly Springs well after the sun went down. 

Winn Decker, on the ballot to represent southern Wake County in the state House of Representatives, stood under a blue tent outside Holly Grove Elementary School, introducing himself to voters as they walked up. 

He said it’s been a busy day at the polls. 

“Regardless of who they’re voting for, change is definitely number one—people are tired of the status quo of their prices being high, of feeling like cost of living continues to go up, and that’s what I’ve heard from voters,” Decker said. 

About 20 feet away, Wayne Paré stands in the parking lot handing pamphlets out in support of his wife, Erin Paré, who’s the Republican incumbent that Decker set out to challenge for the N.C. House District 37 seat. He declined an interview and said he was there to talk to voters. 

“She’s my wife,” he said. “That’s all you need to know.”

In 2024, the Parés were accused of intimidation at early voting sites. Decker and volunteers at Holly Grove Elementary said they had not seen any concerning behavior today. 

The Decker-Paré race is one of few competitive races in Wake County this election season, and southern Wake has a large percentage of unaffiliated voters. At the Holly Grove Elementary precinct, nearly 48% of voters are unaffiliated. 

One unaffiliated voter, Tina Hooker, said she brought her daughter to the polling site to lead by example. Hooker said it’s important to have her voice heard and to try to make a difference. 

“I could care less if you’re a Republican or Democrat,” Hooker said. “What are the issues on the table? What are the proposed solutions that you have? What do you want to advocate for? And I think voting from that place of your values and what unites us is the United States of America. So are we doing it for unity or just out of personal agendas that don’t serve our country as a whole?”

Decker said he’s looking forward to watching the votes get counted tonight. 

“Regardless, we’re proud of the race we ran,” Decker said. “We know we can wake up and hold our heads high tomorrow.”

Outside Forest View Elementary, a band of volunteers urged people to vote against three constitutional amendments on their ballots. 

“Today, there are more people who have wanted information and not been familiar [with the amendments] than there were in early voting,” said Thomas Wicker, a volunteer distributing sample ballots from the Carolina Federation. 

The three constitutional amendments would require photo ID for all voters regardless of voting method,set a cap on the income tax rate, and give legislators the power to limit property tax rates. 

The tax amendments hit close to home for Jocelyn Dawson, the mother of a Rogers-Herr Middle School student, who was handing out flyers on behalf of Durham Public Schools Strong. She said she worried they could “really hurt” school systems, marking another blow in a state already ranked last in public school funding. 

“The amendments are written in a way that’s really tricky, and we’re concerned that people will not see through them,” Dawson said. 

One voter, Josie Steele, said she came in specifically to cast her ballot against the amendments. 

“The photo ID thing, I think, just makes it harder for legitimate voters to have access to voting … I just didn’t agree with that,” Steele said. 

Another voter, Linda Coerr, was eager to cast her vote in the U.S. Senate race. 

“I really hope Roy Cooper is gonna win and give Democrats some actual representation from North Carolina,” she said. 

As one woman with two young boys in tow headed into the polling site, Wicker, the volunteer, extended a flyer and asked if she was familiar with the amendments on the ballot. She demurred: “I know about them.” 

Wicker persisted. “Will you be voting against them?” he asked.

The woman paused. 

“Let me take a look at that,” she said, taking the flyer and entering the polling station.

“Would you like a conservative voter guide?” says Tina Hairr, a volunteer with the North Carolina Republican Party, as she extends a brochure with U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley’s face on the cover. 

Voters are walking into the polls at Herb Young Community Center in Cary, where Hairr and other electioneers say they’ve seen overall low traffic today. That is, besides the appearance of N.C. Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls, who paid the community center a visit earlier in the day, volunteers said. 

Despite plenty of local races for school board and county commission on the ballot, most of the voters and electioneers who spoke with the INDY had the U.S. Senate race on their minds. Hairr’s 17-year-old son came to help hand out Whatley pamphlets, despite not being old enough to vote. 

“I just like getting introduced to it early and getting my friends introduced to it early because this is the future of the country,” Jack Hairr said. 

Volunteer CJ Gravitt was encouraging voters to choose Democrats down the ballot and vote against the constitutional amendments, specifically one that will enshrine voter ID requirements for all types of voting into the state constitution. But as far as the Wake County school bonds, Gravitt said that should be more of a personal choice because it will raise people’s taxes. 

“I just was talking to some gentleman who was worried about grandparents who live in the area, and who own a house, and their taxes go up, but their income doesn’t,” Gravitt said. “And I said I think it’s a personal vote on whether or not you want to support what the bonds are going to pay for.” 

The constitutional amendments also include a measure that would give the General Assembly the power to cap property taxes. Voter Bella Johnson, whose mother is Cary Town Councilmember Carissa Kohn-Johnson, said she’s worried about the future of emergency services if the amendment passes. 

“I’ve seen firsthand from my mom talking about all of it, how expensive our emergency services are, but also how effective they are,” Johnson said. “And if we did cut those taxes significantly, maybe it does take 20 minutes for an ambulance to get to your house in an emergency, instead of our super fast response time that we have right now, or the garbage service isn’t as efficient. Things just start falling through the cracks.”

When North Carolina Rep. Erin Paré runs for election, it’s never boring. In 2020, 2022, and 2024, Democratic volunteers accused her and her husband Wayne, who is also her legislative assistant, of harassing or intimidating them at the polls. 

This year, Paré faces a serious challenge from Democrat Winn Decker. A couple weeks ago, rainbow “Winn Decker for trans rights” signs appeared on medians overnight, unbeknownst to the Decker campaign. Paré seized on the opportunity to call him “radical and wrong” on Facebook. Then, someone defaced one of Paré’s campaign signs with spray paint. She posted about that, too, calling it “petty nonsense” from Decker supporters. But a couple people online pointed out that she didn’t take the sign down. 

During early voting, police were called to the polls twice to check out reports that Wayne had been campaigning inside the 50-foot buffer zone, where it’s not allowed. The first incident happened at Hilltop Needmore Town Park in Fuquay-Varina on October 17, and the second at the Hunt Center in Holly Springs on October 18. Both were resolved without any conflict, according to reports and statements from the police. The Wake County Board of Elections also received ten complaints about the Paré campaign from early voters who submitted a voter feedback survey. Most mentioned Paré’s table, signs, or volunteers being too close to the polling site entrance. 

Pre-election shenanigans aside, this race is predicted to be one of the closest in Wake County. Paré has plenty of money, support from her caucus, and a list of tangible accomplishments to tout to voters. But the political headwinds favor Democrats this year, and Decker is pitching himself as a gentler, more civil alternative to Paré’s culture war-inflected rhetoric. Above all, the candidates are focused on making life more affordable for residents of southern Wake. How they aim to do that differs wildly.

Read more here.

After voters bubbled in their picks for U.S. Senate and N.C. Supreme Court and got all the way down to the soil and water advisory board—I hope they remembered to flip their ballots over. 

Three more choices for voters on the backside of the ballot could shape funding for public services for years to come, in addition to cementing voter ID laws into the state constitution. While they aren’t flashy candidates with taglines and social media publicity, these three constitutional amendments will enshrine decisions about limits on tax caps and voter ID requirements into the state’s binding document. 

Last month, I wrote about the two tax amendments: One will cap the state’s income tax rate at 3.5% (although the rate is already scheduled to be lower than that by 2027), and the other allows the state legislature to limit how much property tax revenue local governments can collect. The legislators sponsoring the bills have said the measures will help alleviate constituents from a rising tax burden.

Leaders in Durham told me how detrimental the property tax amendment could be to their funding. Without the ability to raise property taxes—as the county has done in the past to fund new school construction, parks, and other services—they’ll have trouble funding an already-tight budget. 

While the property tax amendment most directly affects local funding, limiting how much income tax revenue the state receives could put even more of the burden on counties to fund public schools and other services.

The third constitutional amendment would require all voters to present photo identification before voting, even if by mail. While this is already state law, enshrining the rule into the constitution makes it much harder for future legislators—and voters—to repeal.

So as most of the state awaits results in the race between Roy Cooper and Michael Whatley, I’ll be keeping an eye out for the fate of these three amendments.

When family law attorney Evonne Hopkins ran for House District 35 in northern Wake County in 2024, she lost by 1,820 votes to first-term GOP Rep. Mike Schietzelt. The district was R+3 that year; this year, it’s R+0, a true toss-up. 

Hopkins has to like her chances for flipping the seat. 

Of all 13 North Carolina House Districts located in Wake County, House District 35 had the second highest number of voters cast ballots during the early voting period, at 29,643 according to data from the Wake County Board of Elections. In 2024, the total number of votes cast in House District 35 was 56,995. (House District 37, home to another battleground House race, had the most votes cast during early voting this year, 32,711.) 

The Wake County precinct with the largest numerical turnout during early voting was 14-02, located in House District 35; the precinct is west of Wake Forest and touches Franklin and Granville Counties. Wake County Board of Elections member Gerry Cohen said 4,025 of 9,095 registered voters in the precinct have already voted; 61.5% of all Democratic registered voters  in the precinct have cast ballots, compared with 38.5% of Republican voters and 42.7% of unaffiliated. It’s a “suburbanizing” precinct that Sen. Ted Budd carried 57-42 over Cherie Beasley in the 2022 U.S. Senate race, Cohen said.

“It’s entirely unincorporated,” Cohen added in a text message to a reporter on Monday. “This area until the 1970s when it was very rural was known as ‘the Harricane,’ a hard scrabble area with moonshiners.”

Win the Harricane, win the race?

Around noon, a steady trickle of voters came to cast their ballots at the Durham County Main Library downtown. 

Most reported a smooth voting process, but those who came to the wrong polling location were turned away. Unlike with early voting, North Carolina residents can cast their ballots only in their precinct on Election Day.

Outside the library, voter Roy Raynor clutched an ‘I Voted’ sticker as he explained what brought him out to the polls. 

“Like everybody says, prices are crazy. Gas is crazy…,” Raynor said. “So if I can try to make a change, vote for the right person, then I will.” 

A preponderance of yard signs and electioneers flanked the road leading up to the polling station. Outside the library, lively music organized by the non-partisan initiative When We All Vote played. 

Near the library entrance, Lola’s Mobile Kitchen served free burgers to the first 75 voters at the polling station. The food truck was funded by the Durham Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and its partner organizations. 

One of the chapter’s co-chairs, Gabrielle Scott, said she felt “very, very encouraged” by the record-breaking early voter turnout in Durham. 

Some voters cited the constitutional amendments on the ballot as key reasons they came out to vote. 

“I just wanted … to make sure that people who are making more money than me are paying the same amount of taxes as me,” said voter John Seal. 

Another voter, Kristina Mensik, said casting her ballot was the “one tiny, minuscule thing that I can do,” adding that she felt “cautiously optimistic” about the midterms.

Of the four Wake County School Board seats on the ballot this year, District 7 could (or at least should) be the most competitive race. It features three candidates—Jacob Arthur, Amita Gupta, and Maddie Segal—who all have coherent, substantive platforms, active campaigns, and relevant credentials for the office they’re seeking. That might sound like a low bar, but it’s never guaranteed, especially in local races!

Although school board seats are officially nonpartisan, Democrats currently command a 7-2 majority. Segal is a Democrat who snagged key endorsements from the Wake County Democratic Party, the Wake chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators, and outgoing District 7 board member Chris Heagarty. Gupta is also a Democrat, but she has fewer local endorsements. Arthur is a Republican who’s endorsed by the Wake GOP. 

District 7, which includes parts of Cary, Morrisville, and Brier Creek, is home to about 15,000 registered Republicans, 30,000 registered Democrats, and 45,000 unaffiliated voters. With Segal and Gupta splitting the Democratic vote, there’s a chance (albeit a slim one) Arthur could elbow his way to a plurality win. But it would require high Republican turnout on Election Day to make up for the party’s poor showing during early voting, and for unaffiliated voters to vote red, which in Western Wake, they don’t tend to do.

I’ll be watching closely to see how this race goes—and more broadly, whether the school board maintains its current partisan split or sees its balance of power shift. 

The outcome of the races for Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors is not going to determine if Republicans continue to consolidate power in the legislature and courts. It’s not going to decide how much revenue local governments can bring in to fund services like schools and first responders. But this election season I’ve found myself kind of obsessed with these races. 

Each North Carolina county has a soil and water conservation district governed by a Board of Supervisors that helps lead local conservation efforts through technical assistance, educational initiatives, and cost-share programs. These lesser-known races touch on a variety of environmental issues—including erosion, stream restoration, water quality, and farmland preservation.

Perhaps because the office is not well-known, candidates in these races don’t always say a lot about their platforms, values, or what they would do if elected. This year in Wake, there’s a six-way race for two seats, with many of the contenders offering more specific platforms and qualifications than I’ve seen before. 

They’re talking about bolstering local food systems as recalls roll out and grocery prices rise, mitigating increased flood risks, finding new and creative ways to help farms stay afloat, and protecting vulnerable communities from heat and pollution. (Side note: INDY’s questionnaires are often one of the only sources of information on soil and water candidates)

The Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors may not have zoning power, or a big budget, or the authority to enforce penalties against polluters. But at a time when harmful chemicals are in our water, development is threatening green space, and our region is one year into a drought, it feels like the people we elect to these little-known boards could help push us in the right direction.

On the North Carolina Central University campus, it’s not hard to spot the polling site at the Turner Law Building. A typical lineup of campaign advertisements and Durham County Board of Elections “Vote Here!” signs flank the driveway on all sides. Past the drive-through voting spot and into the building, volunteers are waiting in a small atrium to assist voters. 

It’s quiet this morning, with mostly students passing through in small groups to cast their ballots. One NCCU senior said the voting process was still new to her, as it’s only her second time. She said voting is made more accessible by the site’s convenient location for NCCU students. Each day, an elections official is present to resolve any ballot questions. 

As voters enter and leave, they are welcomed and congratulated by the NCCU Alumni Association Durham Chapter’s nonpartisan civic engagement and advocacy committee. Offering snacks, drinks and merchandise, the group’s goal is to “encourage our students and whomever comes to vote,” said Grace Wilson, an executive committee member. 

Since early voting began on October 15, Rashad Sullivan, the civic engagement committee chair, has been at the Turner Law Building. On Tuesday morning, he proudly wore a medal certifying him as a “Poll Chaplain Peacekeeper” by the local organization Faiths United to Save Democracy. 

Sullivan said he helped register 50 to 75 students each day throughout early voting—which includes updating addresses for existing voters. He ran out of application forms three times during early voting. Some students did not have acceptable forms of identification, as mandated by North Carolina law. In one instance, he recalled convincing the university ID office to print a student card at 5:30 p.m. on a Friday.

For Sullivan, reelecting North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls and the three appellate judges on the ballot is the priority this Election Day, considering legal issues around gerrymandering and the state’s responsibility to fund education. 

“Thanks for voting, guys!” he called out to a group leaving the polls, asking if they wanted a snack or a t-shirt. 

A total of 6,167 ballots were cast at the NCCU site during early voting, making it among the least-trafficked early voting sites in the county this election cycle.  

Most of the Wake County Board of Commissioners races are unexciting this year. In Districts 1, 3 and 7, incumbent Democrats Don Mial, Cheryl Stallings, and Vickie Adamson are running unopposed. And for the two new at-large district seats, which will expand the board from seven to nine members, Democrats Christine Kushner and Mona Singh are heavily favored to win a four-year and two-year term, respectively, over Republicans Gary Hartong and Kyle Stogoski.  

The only race where there’s a whiff of competition comes in District 2, which spans southern Wake County, including the fast-growing towns of Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina. Wake County Commissioner Safiyah Jackson, a Democrat, is running for her first full term on the board after she was appointed to the seat in early 2025. It’s the county’s reddest district, and Jackson’s challenger, real estate and land use attorney John Adcock, is a lifelong resident of southern Wake County who briefly served in the North Carolina House. 

In what polls are showing to likely be a good election for Democrats across the country, Jackson should have  an easy path to victory. But her vote for the merger between WakeMed and Atrium in August lost her an endorsement from the Triangle Labor Council, the local chapter of the North Carolina State AFL-CIO. The group, which had endorsed Jackson initially, rescinded its endorsement in September. 

Southern Wake is home to several other races this cycle that could be competitive, including the District 2 school board seat. (The school board is officially nonpartisan, but all races this cycle feature Republicans challenging Democrats). Incumbent Christina Gordon, a Democrat, was appointed to the seat in early 2025. She has a Republican challenger, Ann Schubarg. North Carolina House District 37, which covers southern Wake, also features a contentious race between GOP Rep. Erin Paré and Democratic challenger Winn Decker.  

Still, both Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina elected Democratic mayors last year, ousting Republican incumbents. If the trend holds, there could be few or no Republicans left representing Wake County at any level of state or local government after this year, save for a few seats on one or two town councils.

Durham voters didn’t have many close local races to draw them to early voting this fall. They showed up in record numbers anyway.

By the time early voting sites closed Saturday afternoon, 116,058 Durham County voters had cast a ballot in person or by mail—close to half of everyone eligible to vote here. That’s the biggest early voting turnout the county has ever seen in a midterm. 

As usual in Durham, registered Democrats made up the bulk of early voters, at 57.8%. Unaffiliated voters followed at 35.3%, and Republicans at 6.7%. The youngest voters looked a little different. Among 18- to 25-year-olds, unaffiliated voters nearly matched Democrats, 5,241 ballots to 5,886.

Early voting in Durham tends to skew older, but this year younger voters held their own. Voters under 41 cast about 36% of early ballots, or 41,618, while voters 41 and older cast about 64%.

White voters cast 53.7% of early ballots, and Black voters cast 28.8%. Voters who didn’t list a race on their registration made up another 8.8%, followed by those who listed “other” (4.4%) and Asian voters (3.4%). In two of those groups, unaffiliated voters outnumbered Democrats: those who didn’t list a race, by a wide margin, and Asian voters, by a hair.

Durham’s most competitive local races wrapped up in March. U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee narrowly held off County Commissioner Nida Allam in the Democratic primary for the 4th Congressional District, and state Sen. Sophia Chitlik beat back a challenge from former city council member DeDreana Freeman in Senate District 22. In both heavily Democratic districts, the primary was effectively the election.

The district attorney, sheriff, and clerk of court also effectively secured reelection in March, and several judicial and legislative candidates on this fall’s ballot are running unopposed.

More than 38% of eligible voters in Wake County opted for in-person early voting between October 15 and 31. That’s about three times the turnout for early voting for the primary in March, which was a little over 12%. 

The number of early voters in Wake County surpassed the last time a general election didn’t have a presidential candidate on the ballot, otherwise known as a midterm election for its timing at the midpoint of a president’s term. 

The 2022 midterm elections had 219,490 early voters turn out in Wake County, exceeded by this year’s 334,127 unofficial total ballots cast. 

Here’s what else to know about the unofficial results from early voting:

A higher percentage of registered Democrats turned out to vote early. The highest percentage of registered voters in Wake County are unaffiliated and the highest number of ballots cast were by unaffiliated voters. However, registered Democrats represented 41.3% of in-person early voting ballots, a notably higher percentage than the 32.9% of registered voters who are Democrats in Wake County. 

• Unaffiliated voters represented 41.7% of early voting ballots compared to the 46.5% of total registered voters in Wake County who are unaffiliated. 

• Registered Republicans represented 16.6% of early voting ballots compared to the nearly 20% of voters who are registered with the party in Wake County. 

In North Carolina House District 37, one of the most closely watched races between incumbent Rep. Erin Paré and Democratic challenger Winn Decker, 32,711 voters have already cast a ballot. It’s the highest turnout by N.C. House District in Wake County. 

Western Wake early voting sites were among the busiest for voters. In order, the top five sites were:

• John M. Brown Community Center in Apex, 28,351 early voters.
• Cary Senior Center, 27,670 early voters.
• Lake Lynn Community Center (northwest Raleigh), 26,586 early voters.
• Abbott’s Creek Community Center (northeast Raleigh), 25,226 early voters.
• Herbert C. Young Community Center in Cary, 24,433 early voters.

Wake County voters could choose any early voting site in the county to cast a ballot. 

It’s Election Day across North Carolina and Triangle voters are fired up.

Early voting turnout has been huge in Wake and Durham. That’s despite the fact that many local races were effectively decided in the March primary.

Triangle voters will still play a consequential role in deciding statewide races and ballot measures. Ballots include everything from local school boards to Congress, as well as possible amendments to the state constitution.

Two Republican-held districts in Wake County are considered toss-ups and could tip the balance of the state House. Key races for the U.S. Senate, the state Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeals top the ballot. And on the back of ballots: Proposed amendments to the state constitution that would further entrench voter ID requirements, place a cap on future increases to the state income tax, and limit how much local governments can bring in in property tax revenue. 

Throughout the day, INDY staff will be highlighting the races we’re watching and visiting polling places to talk to voters. This evening, we’ll bring you dispatches from watch parties, and of course, results as they come in. You can find our comprehensive election coverage and candidate questionnaires linked below.

Check back here for updates throughout the day. Polls are open today from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Remember to bring your ID, stay in line until you have had the chance to vote, and flip your ballot to vote on those constitutional amendments.

Have an update from your polling place? Let us know what you’re seeing: [email protected].

And before you head to the polls, check out these voting resources:

• See who’s on your ballot with our ballot generator tool.
• Find your Election Day polling place.
• Read candidates’ responses to the INDY’s questionnaires.
• Catch up on our reporting on the proposed property tax amendments, close House seats in Wake, Wake school board, and more.

There were a variety of moods on display at the polls at the Durham County Main Library on Friday, the penultimate day of early voting.

One man approached the library, saw the long line extending from the door, exhaled, and turned on his heel.

Families who had come to the polls together seemed in high spirits, especially the kids, some of whom were excited to get “I Voted” stickers of their own. 

“So you can have your little show and tell,” a poll worker told one child, handing over a sticker. 

“¡Sí se puede!” the child’s mother exclaimed at the gesture. 

Bob Gotwals’ demeanor was more sober. Gotwals was volunteering as a “vote protector” with Democracy NC, a nonpartisan civic group. Standing just outside the electioneering line, he kept an eye out to make sure campaigners stayed outside the buffer zone and that nobody harassed voters on their way in.

“We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the political climate that we’re in right now,” Gotwals said. “As much as I hate to say that.”

He hadn’t seen any trouble in Durham but in western North Carolina, he said, a fellow volunteer had to step in and get someone removed for yelling at voters.

In their politics and their presentation, North Carolina Rep. Erin Paré and first-time candidate Winn Decker are worlds apart.

She’s a Republican, he’s a Democrat. She’s a small business owner and a military wife; he’s a policy wonk. She has a picture-perfect nuclear family; he’s still saving up to buy his first home. She’ll sling mud and bicker with constituents on social media; he’s pretty quiet online. In short, they represent different archetypes of southern Wake County, where they’re squaring off in one of the most competitive legislative elections this year.

And yet, some of the messaging from the two candidates for state House District 37 has been strikingly similar. They both say they care about affordability and public education. Neither is foregrounding their party affiliation, because it’s not clear who that would benefit. The district is about 45% unaffiliated, 30% Republican, and 24% Democratic.

After Christina Jones was elected to her first term on the Raleigh City Council in 2022, she set up a monthly meeting with representatives from the dozen or so organizations that had endorsed her campaign.

“I said, ‘After the election, we should probably have a relationship, so that [the endorsement] means something,’” Jones told the INDY in a recent interview. “Most of them did not attend those monthly meetings.”

Jones said she understands that many of the organizations are small and volunteer-led, so she didn’t take it personally. Still, it got her thinking about what an endorsement really means, and what it’s worth. In her 2026 candidate questionnaire for the neighborhood activist group Livable Raleigh, which has endorsed her, Jones urged voters to take a look at endorsing organizations’ follow-through.

“Ask these groups how they partner with, not only work against, councilors on the topics that mean the most to you. If there is no relationship with council, are your concerns being incorporated in the final decision?” she wrote.

If you’re traveling to Raleigh from Wake Forest, driving down Capital Boulevard—part of U.S. Highway 1, which stretches north from Key West to the Canadian border—is still your best route. Wake County commuters will encounter plenty of traffic but, so far, no tolls. 

State Rep. Mike Schietzelt takes credit for that.

In North Carolina House District 35, an expansive district shaped like a telephone handset that covers most of Northern Wake County, what to do about that busy stretch of highway connecting the capital city and Wake County’s northernmost town embodies the issues of affordability and aging infrastructure that are on many district voters’ minds this election cycle. The battleground district has flipped from blue to red over the years and could be poised to flip again. 

The November 3 election includes races from school board up to Congress.

See the full list below.

When you go to vote this fall, don’t forget to flip your ballot over. 

On the back, after Wake voters have bubbled in their picks for U.S. Senate and county commissioner and maybe city council, and weighed in on three proposed constitutional amendments, they will see at least two and as many as four local bond questions. 

In addition to countywide public schools and community college bonds, Raleigh voters will decide on a housing bond and a transportation bond, and Knightdale will vote on a parks bond. If approved, the various packages will pay for a wide array of public projects, from overdue school HVAC repairs to protected bike lanes and affordable homes.

North Carolinians will have the option to vote for statewide income and property tax limits this November, and Durham leaders are sounding the alarm bells that these constitutional amendments could affect their ability to fund public schools and other local services. 

One proposed amendment on the ballot would lower the cap on the income tax rate from 7% to 3.5%; income tax revenue funds the state budget. The other amendment would direct the state legislature to limit local property taxes, which make up a large portion of municipal budgets, though a specific limit would be determined later through legislation. 

Neither of these amendments, if passed, would cut taxes, but rather limit the amount that taxes could increase in the future. The legislators sponsoring the bills have said the measures will help alleviate constituents from a rising tax burden. 

In late July, the Durham County Board of Elections posted on Facebook calling for Republicans to sign up to work the polls this election season. Commenters swiftly voiced concerns that the board was only looking for voters from one party and that independent voters were left out of the process.

The board was trying to adhere to a state law that requires the party affiliation of its poll workers be as evenly split between the two major parties as possible. More specifically, it requires “wherever possible” that no precinct, or voting site, has poll workers of only one political party. But, in Durham, finding enough Republicans is hard, considering the party makes up less than 10% of registered voters in the county. 

The Durham County Board of Elections has made a targeted effort to recruit Republicans this election season by sending out mailers, posting on social media, and organizing speaking engagements. As a result, the board of elections is onboarding Republicans at a higher rate than they have in a long time, said Derek Bowens, the board’s director.