How North Carolina emerged as one of Democrats’ biggest midterm bright spots: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, Natasha Korecki digs into battleground North Carolina’s massive midterm shift toward Democrats. Plus, our Capitol Hill team has the latest on the Republican leadership elections.

— Adam Wollner

🚨Breaking news: The Republican-led House narrowly rejected a push to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Read more →

How North Carolina emerged as one of Democrats’ biggest midterm bright spots

Analysis by Natasha Korecki

With so many competing storylines and surprising outcomes from last week’s midterms, it may have been easy to miss what happened in North Carolina.

Democrats have so far managed to flip five seats from red to blue in the Tar Heel State, tied for the most of any state in the country with California, where a redrawn map gave the party a boost. And with three House races still uncalled in North Carolina, there could be more.

Razor-thin margins separate two Republican incumbents, Reps. Greg Murphy and Virginia Foxx, and their Democratic challengers in the 3rd and 5th districts, respectively. And in the 7th District, GOP Rep. David Rouzer is up by roughly 2,500 votes.

This is all happening in a state that hasn’t gone for a Democrat in a presidential race since Barack Obama in 2008, and one that President Donald Trump carried by 3 points in 2024.

But last week, former Gov. Roy Cooper anchored the party’s efforts at the top of the ticket, sailing to victory over former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley by nearly 20 points.

This swing occurred even after Republicans drew a new congressional map in 2025, when they aimed to extend their advantage from 10-4 to 11-3. The mid-decade redistricting effort, spurred on by Trump, backfired spectacularly, as it did in other states.

In addition to the five flips — all in districts Trump carried by at least 9 points in 2024 — Democratic Rep. Don Davis held on to the seat in the 1st District the GOP was targeting by 3 points. And one of the seats Democrats gained is held by Rep. Richard Hudson, the chair of House Republicans’ national campaign arm.

Kian Sadjadi, the executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Party, said he was still studying the results, but that the largest discernible shift he saw came from young, male voters who broke toward Democrats after backing Trump in 2024. Unaffiliated and inconsistent voters overwhelmingly went with Democrats as well, he said.

“We had a big increase in our turnout overall. We saw turnout coming from all parts of the state — basically, every single county except for a couple moved toward the Democrats,” Sadjadi said.

For years, North Carolina Democrats have credited state party Chair Anderson Clayton for building up a strong on-the-ground organization. In recent cycles, that has meant flipping statewide, judicial and local seats.

Now, North Carolina Democrats will hold a majority of the state’s congressional seats and have a newly minted senator.

What does it mean for the 2028 presidential election?

“I don’t think that we can look at this year as kind of a bellwether for ‘28. We’re still going to have to work hard every day … we’re still going to have to fight like we’re behind and not take this as a surefire path to victory,” Sadjadi said.

But, he added, “We will be a true battleground. It’ll be one of our most competitive states.”

🗳️ Related read: The House districts that remain uncalled after the 2026 midterms, by Sarah Sternhagen

House Republicans elect Rep. Jim Jordan as their next leader following election losses

By Scott Wong, Sahil Kapur, Kyle Stewart and Frank Thorp V

After a blue tidal wave swept them from power, House Republicans elected a new GOP leader to replace outgoing Speaker Mike Johnson.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, defeated Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., a close Johnson ally, for minority leader, two Republican lawmakers said. The vote was held behind closed doors and by secret ballot.

The vote was 106-73, the two lawmakers in the room said.

Jordan is a fervent supporter of President Donald Trump and had pitched to GOP colleagues that his past role chairing the Oversight Committee would allow him to combat the spate of investigations newly empowered Democrats have promised to launch into Trump’s administration, family and business ventures.

“I am battle-tested on the oversight front and I know the Democrats’ playbook,” he wrote to his colleagues.

Jordan’s victory signals that House Republicans wanted a clean break from the Johnson political apparatus following last week’s historic GOP drubbing.

It’s a remarkable ascent for Jordan, who has spent two decades in Congress and had once been considered a conservative bomb-thrower who often clashed with the GOP leadership team, though the ambitious Republican has become more of a team player in recent years as he led House committees.

On the other side of the Capitol: Senate Republicans also held their leadership elections today, re-electing their current leadership slate after a small group of conservatives had pushed to delay the election. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota will serve as minority leader in the next Congress.

As for the Democrats: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced he won’t support Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to be majority leader. He appeared at a news conference today alongside Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who has similarly called for a change of leadership without backing an alternative candidate.

“I am not actively seeking this job. I am seeking change,” she said. “I’ve been very consistent for a very long time that we need a new generation of leadership. … It’s important to demonstrate that we’ve heard what people want from this last election.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., whom grassroots progressive advocates are drafting to challenge Schumer, said he’s still “actively listening” to colleagues about a potential run. But he wouldn’t say whether he’ll jump in the race.

“We should not have a coronation,” Van Hollen told reporters in the Capitol. “We should not support anybody for leader without a very clear plan, and as you know, there are many people who think change is required.”

Until a challenger jumps in and gains traction, Schumer is the clear favorite to maintain his perch at the top of the Senate Democratic caucus. The party’s leadership elections are slated to take place next month.

Read more →

That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

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