RALEIGH — The State Board of Elections voted to uphold the challenge of Margot Dupre as a North Carolina U.S. Senate candidate, meaning her name will still appear on the ballot in March but any votes for her will not be counted.
The State Board of Elections (NCSBE) voted 3-1 to disqualify Dupre, with Siobahn Millen as the lone vote against. The board told Dupre she could potentially run as an unaffiliated or write-in candidate in the general election but would have to fix her registration issues and gather the required signatures.
Dupre is one of several Republicans seeking to become the party’s nominee to replace Sen. Thom Tillis. Other Republican candidates include former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, Donald M. (Don) Brown, Thomas Johnson, Michele Morrow and Elizabeth A. Temple.
The NCSBE spent more than three hours hearing evidence, testimony and debating the points of fact in the case before voting to disqualify Dupre on Feb. 4.
Key points of fact determined by the NCSBE included not having a North Carolina driver’s license and maintaining a residence in Florida.
Additionally, Fayetteville resident Jerry Reinoehl’s challenge to Dupre’s candidacy was a core fact the NCSBE debated. He challenged Dupre on a claim she had not met state residency requirements to run.
Dupre’s North Carolina voter registration and her Senate candidate paperwork both list her home address as 601 S. Kings Drive in Charlotte, which is a UPS Store located in a Charlotte strip mall. State law requires voter registration to be one’s actual residence, and a mailing address such as the UPS Store or a P.O. Box does not qualify.
The NCSBE noted that before registering to vote in North Carolina, Dupre was registered and voted by mail in Idaho (2024), where she also ran for an office, as well as voting in the Florida primary in Ocala, Florida (2025).
Dupre had said she had been living in her “glamper” — a portmanteau of glamour and camper — at the time she registered to vote and had used it to travel around the state until wintry weather hit. She admitted the camper is now parked at her property in Florida and currently occupied by some of her adult children.
Millen argued Dupre’s nomadic existence should bar her from voting and hesitated to disqualify her.
Member Bob Rucho pointed out that even if she was claiming the camper as her domicile, she would have to actually be living out of it, and that was not happening since it is parked in Florida.
Regarding the Florida residence in Ocala, it was documented she has a “homestead exemption” as a co-owner of that home, where her horses are also located.
Questions also arose surrounding Dupre’s realtor license, which is still valid and active in Florida.
Dupre repeatedly invoked a section of state law to defend her use of the UPS Store address that deals with nontraditional residences.
“In the event that a person’s residence is not a traditional residence associated with real property, then the location of the usual sleeping area for that person shall be controlling as to the residency of that person,” the statute reads. “Residence shall be broadly construed to provide all persons with the opportunity to register and to vote, including stating a mailing address different from residence address.”
In her closing arguments, Dupre called the proceeding a “political move.”
“I am not here illegally. I am an American citizen. I have chosen N.C. as my home,” Dupre said. “There is nothing illegal here.”
The NCSBE was also hesitant to speculate on whether Dupre would remain a resident of the state up through the November general election. Dupre’s voting and campaign record over the past two years in multiple states was a likely anchor for that hesitation.
In 2024, Dupre ran for Idaho’s 1st Congressional District and voted by mail from Florida in those elections. The following year, she voted in Florida primaries, and in 2020, she ran for U.S. Senate in Colorado.
During the hearing, no party involved asked Dupre about how long she stayed in the other states after an election or campaign. It also went unasked if she used a P.O. Box or UPS Store as her address, or if she claimed her camper as her residence during those instances.
