North Carolina’s 1st District House Race

Property records show Democratic candidate LaKesha Womack, who is challenging Republican Rep. Tim Moore in North Carolina's 14th Congressional District, purchased a home in neighboring District 12 this summer while her official voting address — located in District 14 — appears on Zillow as a rental listing. Womack initially agreed to discuss the matter but later canceled the interview and has not responded to further requests for comment.

The Constitution does not require House members to live in the districts they represent, only that they reside in the state, be at least 25 years old, and have held U.S. citizenship for seven years. Still, a WBTV review found two of North Carolina's 14 House members registered to vote outside their districts: Womack and Republican Rep. Brad Knott, whose Raleigh voting address falls in District 2 rather than his District 13. A third representative, Democrat Don Davis, was redrawn out of his old district in last year's redistricting and is now running in a seat reconfigured to favor Republicans.

Early voting opens Oct. 15 and runs through Oct. 31 in North Carolina, a key battleground in the 2025 midterms. The marquee race is the open U.S. Senate seat left by retiring Republican Thom Tillis, pitting Democrat and former Gov. Roy Cooper against Republican Michael Whatley, the Trump-backed former RNC chair, with Green and Libertarian candidates also on the ballot. Democrats are targeting the seat as part of a broader push to flip the four seats needed for Senate control.

The ballot also includes competitive U.S. House races, including Charlotte-area districts held by Reps. Alma Adams, Tim Moore and Mark Harris, plus down-ballot contests for the N.C. Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, state legislature, and Mecklenburg County offices. Voters will also weigh in on constitutional amendments covering voter ID, income tax caps and property tax limits, along with Charlotte bond measures for transportation, housing and neighborhood improvements. Election Day is Nov. 3, with North Carolina's results seen as a bellwether for national party control in Washington.

An NRCC ad targeting Jamie Ager, the Democratic candidate in North Carolina's 11th District, highlights a past "kid-friendly" farm festival where drag performers from the Beer City Sisters, including figures using names like "Sister Domina Trix," appeared. Ager's Hickory Nut Gap Farm had publicly thanked the group for attending the 2019 event before later locking the related Facebook post.

Performers and LGBTQ advocates, including Blue Ridge Pride, disputed the ad, with some performers claiming parts of the footage were AI-generated and issuing cease-and-desist demands. The NRCC stands by the ad. The dispute has become a flashpoint in the closely watched race days before the election.

Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina has asked House colleagues to reject a censure recommendation from the Ethics Committee, which found he engaged in persistent, unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two former female aides. In a letter dated Tuesday and first reported by NOTUS, Edwards argued lawmakers should distinguish unconventional behavior from sexual harassment, writing that "a gift is not sexual misconduct" and "poetry is not sexual misconduct."

The committee's report detailed extensive gifts, including jewelry, designer purses, guns, vacations and one-on-one dinners, calling them "beyond norms of professional behavior." It found both aides felt trapped by their positions and said Edwards' conduct would "lead a reasonable observer" to view it as a romantic advance, though he denies that intent. Both women have since left his office. Edwards, elected in 2022, dropped his reelection bid days after the censure recommendation. The Ethics Committee declined to comment on his letter. A House floor vote on censure would follow the usual majority-vote process.

Rebecca Cooke defeated Emily Berge in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary, setting up a third consecutive matchup against Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden. Cooke, who grew up on a dairy farm near Eau Claire and works as a waitress and small-business owner, narrowly lost to Van Orden in 2024 by less than three percentage points after also losing the 2022 primary. She entered this year's primary with backing from the DCCC's "Red to Blue" program, while Berge campaigned as a local alternative skeptical of national party influence. Cooke holds a fundraising edge, having raised about $8.6 million to Van Orden's $7.5 million, though he retains nearly $3 million more cash on hand.

The western Wisconsin district, covering Eau Claire and La Crosse, has trended Republican in presidential races but is rated a toss-up, making it Democrats' top target in the state as they seek to retake the House majority in November. Cooke is campaigning on rural frustration over Trump administration policies, including tariffs that have hurt farm exports, cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, and rising fuel and fertilizer costs tied to the Iran conflict, while Van Orden defends his record backing Trump's agenda. The race is part of a broader Wisconsin battleground that includes the 1st District, where nurse Mitchell Berman will challenge GOP Rep. Bryan Steil, and the solid-red 7th District, won by Sean Duffy's son-in-law Michael Alfonso in the Republican primary.