North Carolina's 9th congressional district | |
---|---|
Representative | |
Population (2023) | 771,994 [1] |
Median household income | $64,306 [1] |
Ethnicity |
|
Cook PVI | R+6 [2] |
North Carolina's 9th congressional district is a congressional district in south-central North Carolina. The district's current boundaries were redrawn in February 2016 after a U.S. District Court overturned the existing boundaries because of politically directed gerrymandering that suppressed minority representation. [3] [4] The new congressional district consists of Union, Chatham, Anson, Richmond, Scotland, and Robeson counties; a southeast portion of Mecklenburg County; and parts of Cumberland, Moore and Bladen counties.
Republicans have held this district since 1963. Republican Robert Pittenger had represented the district since January 2013. In 2018, Pittenger was defeated by challenger Mark Harris in the Republican primary. The latter faced Democrat Dan McCready in the general election.
Harris was initially called as the winner by several hundred votes, but the result was not certified, pending a statewide investigation into allegations of absentee ballot fraud. [5] [6] On February 21, the bipartisan State Election Board unanimously voted to call for a new election for the 9th district, because of ballot fraud by Republican operatives. [7]
A special election was held September 10, 2019, with Democrat Dan McCready running against Republican Dan Bishop, a state senator who won the Republican primary. [8] Bishop won the 2019 special election to the U.S. House of Representatives with 50.7% of the vote to McCready's 48.7%. [9] [10]
Candidate filing began February 24, 2022 after the North Carolina Supreme Court approved a new map which changed the 9th district boundaries to include Chatham, Hoke, Lee, Moore, Randolph and Scotland Counties and parts of Cumberland, Harnett and Richmond Counties. [11]
The ninth district is currently represented by Richard Hudson.
Counties in the 2023–2025 district map:
In the Republican primary incumbent Robert Pittenger was defeated by former pastor Mark Harris, who had closely challenged him two years earlier. [14] Harris won 48.5 percent of the vote to Pittenger's 46.2 percent. [15]
The New York Times described the election between Harris and Democrat Dan McCready as a "top-tier contest". [16] In results on election day, Harris defeated McCready by 905 votes, but on November 27, 2018, the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics Reform declined to certify the election results, citing voting irregularities involving absentee ballots. [17] [18] The irregularities in counting and handling of absentee ballots became the subject of a criminal investigation. [19]
Outlets such as the Associated Press [20] and FiveThirtyEight [21] subsequently retracted calling the race, pending the decision of the state board of elections. On December 1, the chair of the state elections board resigned, saying: "The investigation of criminal conduct and absentee voting fraud in the 2018 Republican primary and 2018 general election in congressional district 9 is a matter of vital importance to our democracy", adding that "I will not allow myself to be used as an instrument of distraction in this investigation". [22]
On November 30, the election board of the district decided to hear evidence about "claims of numerous irregularities and concerted fraudulent activities" at a meeting to be held by December 21. A finding of fraud could have resulted in a new election. [23]
On December 5, 2018, independent investigative reporting of the alleged vote thefts detailed a practice that targeted southern rural elderly black voters in the 9th district congressional race and termed the affair, "...the most serious federal election tampering case in years." Campaign workers revealed that the vote tampering went on in a pervasively chaotic atmosphere. Operatives tracked votes and field workers "...would come to your house, they would get you to fill out an absentee ballot to be sent to your house. They would go back and pick it up and then seal it and then find two witnesses," to certify their validity. Such handling of ballots and completed applications by other than board and postal workers is legally prohibited. An informant tabulated the number of ballots delivered to the county election board and said an indicted leader gave the Harris campaign updates on the operation's most recent totals. The leader was employed by Red Dome political consultants which received over $428,000 from the Harris campaign. The informant had delivered 185 absentee ballot applications and the leader personally delivered 592 more. [24] On December 6, Democratic candidate McCready withdrew his earlier submitted election concession. [25] Republican candidate Harris agreed for a new election to be held if allegations of election fraud could be proven by the election board to have affected the contest's outcome. [26] The leader of the North Carolina Republicans, Robin Hayes, stated on December 11 that, regardless to what extent election fraud could be proven to have altered the election, a new election would be necessary in the state's 9th congressional district if investigators can verify a local newspaper report that early voting results in Bladen County were leaked before Election Day. [27] [28]
On December 28, the state court dissolved the state election board, before it had certified election results. [29] [30] The election board's staff announced that it would continue the investigation, but delayed hearings until a new election board was seated, presumably on January 31. [31] [32] Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's attempts to fill an interim board were overridden by the Republican-controlled legislature. [29] Incoming United States House of Representatives Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat, announced that the House of Representatives would not seat Harris under any circumstances until the fraud investigation is completed. [33] Harris announced he would seek court intervention to have him immediately certified as the winner and stated his intention to join the 116th Congress on January 3. [34] [35] However, Harris was not permitted to join the new Congress on January 3.
On February 21, the bipartisan state board of elections voted to hold a new election, because, according to board chairman Bob Cordle, "irregularities and improprieties ... tainted the results ... and cast doubt on its fairness." [36] A newly passed law by the North Carolina state legislature will require the parties to hold new primaries before the general election for this seat. [37] [38] [39] [40] Harris has said that he will not run again.
Democrat Dan McCready, a veteran and business executive, was unopposed as his party's nominee for this seat, following his narrow initial loss to Mark Harris in the election voided because of alleged ballot fraud by Republican operatives. After the Republicans conducted their primary, they nominated Dan Bishop, a North Carolina state senator, to run in the special election to be held in September 2019. [8] On September 10, 2019, Bishop narrowly won the election with 50.7% of the vote to McCready's 48.7%. [9] [41] He was sworn in on September 17, 2019. [42]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Robert Pittenger | 194,537 | 51.8 | |
Democratic | Jennifer Roberts | 171,503 | 45.6 | |
Libertarian | Curtis Campbell | 9,650 | 2.6 | |
Total votes | 375,690 | 100.0 | ||
Republican hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Robert Pittenger (incumbent) | 163,080 | 93.9 | |
N/A | Write-ins | 8,219 | 4.7 | |
Independent | Shawn Eckles (write-in) | 2,369 | 1.4 | |
Total votes | 173,668 | 100.0 | ||
Republican hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Robert Pittenger (incumbent) | 193,452 | 58.2 | |
Democratic | Christian Cano | 139,041 | 41.8 | |
Total votes | 332,493 | 100.0 | ||
Republican hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Mark Harris | 139,246 | 49.25 | |
Democratic | Dan McCready | 138,341 | 48.93 | |
Libertarian | Jeff Scott | 5,130 | 1.81 | |
Total votes | 282,717 | 100.0 | ||
Republican hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Dan Bishop | 96,573 | 50.69 | |
Democratic | Dan McCready | 92,785 | 48.70 | |
Libertarian | Jeff Scott | 773 | 0.41 | |
Green | Allen Smith | 375 | 0.20 | |
Total votes | 190,506 | 100.00 | ||
Republican hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Dan Bishop (incumbent) | 224,661 | 55.6 | |
Democratic | Cynthia Wallace | 179,463 | 44.4 | |
Total votes | 404,124 | 100.0 | ||
Republican hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Richard Hudson (incumbent) | 131,453 | 56.50 | ||
Democratic | Ben Clark | 101,202 | 43.50 | ||
Total votes | 232,655 | 100.00 | |||
Republican hold |
Bladen County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,606. Its county seat is Elizabethtown. The county was created in 1734 as Bladen Precinct and gained county status in 1739.
Robert Miller Pittenger is a businessman and American politician who was the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 9th congressional district from 2013 to 2019. The district included several outer portions of Charlotte as well as many of that city's southern and eastern suburbs. He is a member of the Republican Party.
The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the 13 U.S. representatives from the state of North Carolina. The elections coincided with the U.S. presidential election, N.C. gubernatorial election, statewide judicial elections, Council of State elections and various local elections. Primary elections were held on May 8, 2012; for races in which no candidate received 40 percent of the vote in the primary, runoff elections were held on July 17.
The 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, to elect the 13 U.S. representatives from the state of North Carolina, one from each of the state's 13 congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the United States Senate and House of Representatives and various state and local elections, including an election to the U.S. Senate.
The 2016 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Democratic state attorney general Roy Cooper won his first term in office, defeating Republican incumbent Pat McCrory.
The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the 13 U.S. representatives from the state of North Carolina, one from each of the state's 13 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections.
James Daniel Bishop is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 8th congressional district since 2019, when the district was numbered “9”. As a Republican, his district includes south-central Mecklenburg, Union, Anson, Richmond, Scotland, Robeson, Hoke, and southern Moore Counties. He served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017 and the Mecklenburg County Commission from 2005 to 2009. He served in the North Carolina State Senate from 2017 to 2019.
Jennifer Roberts is an American politician, businesswoman and former diplomat who served as the 58th mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. She was elected on November 3, 2015 having previously served four terms on the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners. In 2012, she was the Democratic nominee for the United States House of Representatives in North Carolina's 9th congressional district.
Mark Harris is an American pastor and political candidate from North Carolina. He is the Republican nominee for the 2024 election in the redrawn North Carolina's 8th congressional district.
The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina were held on November 6, 2018, electing the thirteen U.S. representatives from the State of North Carolina, one from each of the state's congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, as well as elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections.
Daniel Kent McCready is an American veteran, entrepreneur, civil rights activist, and former political candidate from Charlotte, North Carolina. He served in the United States Marine Corps, achieving the rank of captain.
Ballot collecting, also known as "ballot harvesting" or "ballot chasing", is the gathering and submitting of completed absentee or mail-in voter ballots by third-party individuals, volunteers or workers, rather than submission by voters themselves directly to ballot collection sites. It occurs in some areas of the U.S. where voting by mail is common, but some other states have laws restricting it.
The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina were held on November 3, 2020, to elect the 13 U.S. representatives from the state of North Carolina, one from each of the state's 13 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections.
Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr. was an American political operative and convicted fraudster from the state of North Carolina. Dowless' actions were at the center of a fraud investigation following the 2018 North Carolina's 9th congressional district election. In February 2019, North Carolina's election commission determined that the doubts surrounding the integrity of the election were sufficiently serious that the election results should be invalidated and a new election held.
The 2018 election in North Carolina's 9th congressional district was held on November 6, 2018, to elect a member for North Carolina's 9th congressional district to the United States House of Representatives.
A special election was held on September 10, 2019, to fill the vacancy in North Carolina's 9th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for the remainder of the 116th United States Congress. The seat had been vacant since the opening of the 116th Congress, following the refusal of the North Carolina State Board of Elections to certify the results of the November 2018 election in the district due to allegations of electoral fraud. Because of the allegations, the race received substantial national attention.
A special election was held on September 10, 2019, to fill the vacancy in North Carolina's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for the remainder of the 116th United States Congress. Walter B. Jones Jr., the incumbent representative, died on February 10, 2019.
Paul Robert Newton is an American politician and Republican member of the North Carolina State Senate, formerly representing the 36th district.
There were three special elections to the United States House of Representatives in 2019 during the 116th United States Congress.
The 2024 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect the fourteen U.S. representatives from the State of North Carolina, one from all fourteen of the state's congressional districts. The elections will coincide with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections. The primary elections took place on March 5, 2024.