RALEIGH — Candidate filing for the 2024 election cycle closed at noon on Friday, Dec. 15 with a number of candidates choosing not to seek reelection, retire, or opting to run for a different elected position.
Five members of North Carolina’s Congressional delegation are not seeking reelection.
Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (NC-08) will be running for N.C. attorney general and Patrick McHenry (NC-10) will be retiring. McHenry had served briefly as Speaker of the House after the ouster of California Republican Kevin McCarthy.
“I will be retiring from Congress at the end of my current term,” said McHenry in a statement. “This is not a decision I come to lightly, but I believe there is a season for everything and—for me—this season has come to an end.”
Democratic U.S. Reps. Kathy Manning (NC-06) and Wiley Nickel (NC-13) will not seek reelection and both issued statements blaming new congressional maps. The newly drawn maps are facing a legal challenge as being “racially gerrymandered.”
U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson has also filed to run for N.C. attorney general. Bishop is running unopposed whereas Jackson will have to overcome two other Democrats in the primary; Tim Dunn, a lawyer from Fayetteville, and Durham District Attorney Satana Deberry.
Both Jackson and Nickel are leaving after just one term.
On the North Carolina Council of State, only four of the eight seats, excluding the positions of governor and lieutenant governor, have incumbents seeking reelection; Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Superintendent Catherine Truitt. Marshall is the only Democrat and the only incumbent who did not pick up a primary challenger.
Troxler will be seeking his sixth term and is the second-longest serving agriculture commissioner in state history. He is also the only Republican to hold the post.
Causey will have a primary opponent in former legislator Robert Brawley while on the Democratic side of the aisle, state Sen. Natasha Marcus jumped into the race after complaining about new maps for legislative house and senate districts. Democrat David Wheeler had filed ahead of Marcus but has commented he may consider “stepping aside.”
Other Council of State position changes include Democrat Auditor Beth Wood and Republican Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson, who will not seek reelection, while State Treasurer Dale Folwell is running for governor.
Wood’s departure follows an indictment in her December 2022 hit-and-run case using a state vehicle. Gov. Roy Cooper appointed former Wake County Commissioner Jessica Holmes to fill the vacancy and will seek a full term next year.
Folwell will join Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and trial attorney Bill Graham in the primary. Former Republican state Sen. Andy Wells had announced his intent to run, however, he did not file candidacy paperwork.
N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein who is also running for governor will face three other Democrats in the primary; former N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice Mike Morgan, Lumberton attorney Marcus Williams, Tryon Mayor Pro Tem Chrelle Booker, and Gary Foxx of Rocky Mount.
While 11 candidates in total filed to run for governor, 15 candidates have filed for the lieutenant governor’s race:
Deanna Ballard (R) – Former state Sen. from Watauga County
Peter Boykin (R) – Founder of Gays for Trump
Ross Douthit (R) – Citizen from Mooresville
Jeffrey Elmore (R) – State Rep. From Wilkes County
Allen Mashburn (R) – Minister from Seagrove
Marlenis Hernandez Novoa (R) – Wake county paramedic and firefighter
Jim O’Neill (R) – Forsyth County district attorney
Sam Page (R) – Rockingham County Sheriff
Hal Weatherman (R) – Chief of staff and campaign manager to former Lt. Gov. Dan Forest
Seth Woodall (R) – Attorney from Eden
Ernest Reeves (R) – Military veteran from Greenville
Ben Clark (D) – Former state Sen. from Cumberland County
Rachel Hunt (D) – State Sen. From Mecklenburg County and daughter of former Gov. Jim Hunt
Mark Harrison Robinson (D) – Sampson County area investor
Dorothy (Dee) Watson (L) – Statistician from Caswell Beach
Forsyth District Attorney Jim O’Neill’s candidacy was a surprise. O’Neill had challenged Stein in 2020 for the attorney general’s spot and filed on the last day of the two-week window.
Next week: a dive into the General Assembly and statewide judicial races.
