Countdown to Annual Conference

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2022 NC General Election - Key Takeaways

At the State Level

  •  Republicans maintained control of the NC General Assembly.
  •  The Senate picked up enough seats to attain a “supermajority” but the House fell short of that status by one seat. Note: there is a potential for recounts in a few races.
  •  Two, key races on the NC Supreme Court for control of the bench flipped Republican. As a result, the partisan make-up of the state’s highest court will be 5-2. This composition will figure prominently going forward as Governor Cooper has filed multiple challenges to legislation during his tenure as Governor, most notably challenging redistricting, voter ID and education funding.

At the Federal Level

  • In the U.S. House, going into the election, NC Republicans held 8 of the 13 seats with an additional seat created for 2023 based on the census. Of the new, 14, NC congressional districts, there is now a 7 to 7 split among Republicans and Democrats.
  • In the U.S. Senate, only one of NC’s two seats was up for grabs. NC Republican (and current U.S. House member) Ted Budd and Democrat Cherie Beasley fought for the seat, with Budd eventually winning to succeed Senator Richard Burr, who is retiring.
  •  Overall, the composition of the U.S. House is now 221 Republicans, 213 Democrats and the U.S. Senate is 49 Republicans and 51 Democrats.

NC General Assembly

Balance of Power in 2022

House
69 Republicans
51 Democrats


Senate
28 Republicans
22 Democrats

Balance of Power in 2023-24

House
71 Republicans
49 Democrats


Senate
30 Republicans
20 Democrats

 

How it happened:
In the House, Republicans were able to take closely contested races, most notably seats in “swing districts”—knocking off targeted incumbents. In the Senate, Republicans took some close races--Senator Michael Lee in New Hanover and Senator Bobby Hanig in District 3.

Governor Cooper-backed candidate Val Applewhite beat former Senator Wesley Meredith. Cooper recruited and supported Applewhite over sitting Senator Kirk Deviere, who worked with the Senate Republicans to reach a budget. 

NC Supreme Court 

 

How it happened:
National political action committees/”Super PACS” spent north of $15M on the two, Supreme Court races in play.

 

NC-US House Congressional Races (14)

Balance in 2022 (13 seats)

8 Republicans
5 Democrats

Balance in 2023 (now 14 seats)

7 Republicans
7 Democrats

 

NC - US Senate Race (1)

Balance in 2022 (2 seats)

2 Republicans (Burr and Tillis)

Balance in 2023 (2 seats)

2 Republicans (Tillis and Budd)

 

How it happened:
Beasley raised $30M but national, conservative groups ran a number of ads opposing her. For example, the Senate Leadership Fund spent $25M on ads opposing her. Budd won with 50.71% of the vote, with Beasley garnering 47.08%. 

Candidate Questionnaires

 For the 2022 general election, the NC Association for Public Charter Schools partnered with the NC Coalition for Charter Schools to send out questionnaires to candidates in the races for: North Carolina House of Representatives, North Carolina Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, and North Carolina Supreme Court.
Click on the race you are interested in below. If a candidate has returned a completed questionnaire to us, you will be able to click on the candidate's name to view. Candidates are listed by district and party.

National Races

US House

US Senate

 

NC Races

NC House    NC Senate   NC Supreme Court
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