Who's In the Race
Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC) faces Democrat Colby Watson in the November 3 general election in North Carolina's 8th District. North Carolina enacted a new congressional map in October 2025, redrawing district lines for this year's elections.
Harris served for over a decade as senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Charlotte before entering Congress, and his House biography lists him on the Agriculture, Education and Workforce, and Judiciary committees.
Watson is a small-business owner who grew up in the district, according to a Charlotte Observer candidate questionnaire and his campaign website. Watson won the March 3 Democratic primary with about 48 percent of the vote, beating runner-up Kevin Clark, who received about 37 percent, in a three-way contest.
What They Stand For
Harris has supported cutting regulations and taxes to promote business growth, according to his official House issues page. He's also supported border security, restoring law and order, and protecting American citizens, protecting the sanctity of life and promoting traditional family values, reducing regulatory burdens and promoting innovation in agriculture, and free enterprise and hard work as the foundation of a strong economy.
Watson has proposed blocking Wall Street firms and large institutional investors from buying up neighborhoods while expanding starter-home construction and first-time-buyer programs, according to his campaign website. He's also supported lowering prescription-drug costs, strengthening antitrust enforcement and protecting rural hospitals, funding local public schools, paying teachers more and expanding career and technical training, securing the border while modernizing legal immigration and focusing enforcement on violent criminals, and supporting small businesses, American manufacturing and apprenticeships, saying "an honest day's work should be enough to build a good life."
The Money Behind the Race
Through June 30, 2026, Harris had raised about $1 million and had about $518,000 on hand, while Watson had raised about $40,000 and had roughly $2,343 on hand, giving Harris a cash advantage of roughly 221 to one. Outside groups have spent about $13,805 supporting Harris, all of it from the Freedom Caucus Fund.
Race Outlook: Ratings and Betting Markets
Every major handicapper rates this seat as safely Republican. Cook Political Report rated the race Solid Republican as of Oct. 9; Sabato's Crystal Ball rated it Solid Republican as of Oct. 11; and Inside Elections rated it Solid Republican as of Oct. 2. On Kalshi, traders gave Republicans a 96.26% chance of winning as of Oct. 15, with Democrats at 3.74%.
The district's recent history reinforces that picture. Harris won the seat in 2024 with about 60 percent of the vote, though that was about 10 points below the roughly 70 percent Dan Bishop posted in the same district in 2022. Republicans won 10 of North Carolina's 14 U.S. House seats in 2024, while Democrats won the other 4. Donald Trump carried North Carolina in the 2024 presidential election with about 51 percent of the vote. Taken together, North Carolina House races have trended steadily toward Republicans over the past two cycles, and the 8th District sits well within that pattern.
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