The Winner
If you live in North Carolina's 1st U.S. House District, you will continue to be represented in Congress by Rep. Don Davis (D-NC), who has been declared the winner of the 2026 congressional race, according to the Associated Press. The Associated Press called the race at 11:58 a.m. EST on Nov. 5, 2026, while the vote count is still underway and the results are not yet certified. The seat stays in Democratic hands.
The Race
Laurie Buckhout won the Republican primary on March 3, 2026, with about 39.5 percent of the vote, beating second-place finisher Asa Buck by about five percentage points. Cook Political Report rated the race a Toss-up heading into Election Day, according to Ballotpedia.
The district spans 22 counties in eastern North Carolina, including Bertie, Camden, Currituck, Chowan and Edgecombe, according to U.S. House of Representatives — Representative Don Davis. The district has a total population of about 747,584, a median household income of about $56,300, and a median age of about 42, according to Geographies data for the district. About 20.3 percent of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher; the district's population is about 39.1 percent Black, 48.4 percent white and 8.2 percent Hispanic, with an unemployment rate of 6.3 percent and about 17.6 percent of residents living below the poverty line.
What's Next
Davis is set to take office on Jan. 3, 2027. Davis said his priorities for the next Congress include lowering everyday costs, bringing good-paying jobs to eastern North Carolina, and improving rural health care, according to written responses he published in the Island Free Press on Oct. 15, 2026. The North Carolina State Board of Elections has a scheduled certification date of Nov. 24, 2026, though certification had not been confirmed as of the time this article ran.
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