North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District

North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District

Incumbent

Gregory Murphy

Assumed office: September 17, 2019

North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Gregory Murphy (R).

As of the 2020 Census, North Carolina representatives represented an average of 746,711 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 735,829 residents.

Elections

2024

See also: North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024

North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House North Carolina District 3

Incumbent Gregory Murphy defeated Gheorghe Cormos in the general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 3 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gregory Murphy (R)	77.4	248,276
		Gheorghe Cormos (L)	22.6	72,565

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 320,841
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Gregory Murphy advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Niki Nixon (R)

Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Gheorghe Cormos advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3.

2022

See also: North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House North Carolina District 3

Incumbent Gregory Murphy defeated Barbara Gaskins in the general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 3 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gregory Murphy (R)	66.9	166,520
		Barbara Gaskins (D)	33.1	82,378

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 248,898
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3

Barbara Gaskins defeated Joe Swartz in the Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Barbara Gaskins	80.8	23,051
		Joe Swartz	19.2	5,495

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 28,546
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Tyron Brown (D)
• Jason Minnicozzi (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3

Incumbent Gregory Murphy defeated Tony Cowden, Eric Earhart, George Papastrat, and Brian Friend in the Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gregory Murphy	75.7	50,123
		Tony Cowden	14.1	9,332
		Eric Earhart	4.9	3,274
		George Papastrat	2.7	1,789
		Brian Friend	2.6	1,698

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 66,216
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House North Carolina District 3

Incumbent Gregory Murphy defeated Daryl Farrow in the general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 3 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gregory Murphy (R)	63.4	229,800
		Daryl Farrow (D)	36.6	132,752

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 362,552
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Daryl Farrow advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Aleccia Sutton (D)

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Gregory Murphy advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Rob Rollason (R)
• Steven Benton (R)

2019

See also: North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District special election, 2019

General election

Special general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 3

Gregory Murphy defeated Allen Thomas, Greg Holt, and Tim Harris in the special general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 3 on September 10, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gregory Murphy (R)	61.7	70,407
		Allen Thomas (D)	37.5	42,738
		Greg Holt (Constitution Party)	0.4	507
		Tim Harris (L)	0.3	394

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 114,046 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary runoff election

Special Republican primary runoff for U.S. House North Carolina District 3

Gregory Murphy defeated Joan Perry in the special Republican primary runoff for U.S. House North Carolina District 3 on July 9, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gregory Murphy	59.7	21,481
		Joan Perry	40.3	14,530

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 36,011
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Special Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3

The following candidates ran in the special Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3 on April 30, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Allen Thomas	50.0	12,933
		Richard Bew	25.2	6,532
	Submit photo	Dana Outlaw	12.6	3,268
		Isaiah Johnson	6.9	1,774
		Gregory Humphrey	2.7	695
		Ernest Reeves	2.6	683

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 25,885
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ollie Nelson (D)

Republican primary election

Special Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3

The following candidates ran in the special Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3 on April 30, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gregory Murphy	22.5	9,530
✔		Joan Perry	15.4	6,536
		Phillip Shepard	12.1	5,101
		Michael Speciale	9.5	4,022
		Phil Law	8.7	3,690
	Submit photo	Eric Rouse	7.7	3,258
	Submit photo	Jeff Moore	5.4	2,280
		Francis De Luca	3.9	1,670
		Celeste Cairns	3.5	1,467
	Submit photo	Chimer Davis Clark Jr.	2.6	1,092
		Michele Nix	2.2	915
	Submit photo	Graham Boyd	2.1	897
		Paul Beaumont	1.9	805
		Mike Payment	1.3	537
		Don Cox	0.6	251
		Kevin Baiko	0.4	171
		Gary Ceres	0.3	108

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 42,330
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Sandy Smith (R)

Libertarian primary election

Special Libertarian primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3

Tim Harris defeated Shannon Bray in the special Libertarian primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3 on April 30, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tim Harris	56.0	75
		Shannon Bray	44.0	59

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 134
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House North Carolina District 3

Incumbent Walter B. Jones won election in the general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 3 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Walter B. Jones (R)	100.0	187,901

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 187,901 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3

Incumbent Walter B. Jones defeated Phil Law and Scott Dacey in the Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 3 on May 8, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Walter B. Jones	43.0	20,963
		Phil Law	29.4	14,343
		Scott Dacey	27.5	13,421

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 48,727
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2016

See also: North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Walter Jones (R) defeated Democratic candidate Ernest Reeves in the general election. Jones defeated Taylor Griffin and Phil Law in the Republican primary, while Reeves defeated David Hurst for the Democratic nomination. The primary election took place on June 7, 2016. The general election took place on November 8, 2016.

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Walter Jones Incumbent	67.2%	217,531
	Democratic	Ernest Reeves	32.8%	106,170
Total Votes				323,701
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3 Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Walter Jones Incumbent	64.9%	15,799
Phil Law	20.3%	4,946
Taylor Griffin	14.8%	3,610
Total Votes		24,355
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3 Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ernest Reeves	54.7%	6,456
David Hurst	45.3%	5,351
Total Votes		11,807
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections

2014

See also: North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District elections, 2014

The 3rd Congressional District of North Carolina held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Walter Jones (R) defeated Marshall Adame (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Walter Jones Incumbent	67.8%	139,415
	Democratic	Marshall Adame	32.2%	66,182
Total Votes				205,597
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections

2012

See also: North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District elections, 2012

The 3rd Congressional District of North Carolina held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012, in which incumbent Walter B. Jones (R) won re-election. He defeated Erik Anderson (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Erik Anderson	36.9%	114,314
	Republican	Walter B. Jones Incumbent	63.1%	195,571
Total Votes				309,885
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Walter B. Jones won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Johnny G. Rouse (D) and Darryl Holloman (Libertarian) in the general election.

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3, General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Walter B. Jones incumbent	71.9%	143,225
	Democratic	Johnny G. Rouse	25.7%	51,317
	Libertarian	Darryl Holloman	2.4%	4,762
Total Votes				199,304

2008
On November 4, 2008, Walter B. Jones won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Craig Weber (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3, General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Walter B. Jones incumbent	65.9%	201,686
	Democratic	Craig Weber	34.1%	104,364
Total Votes				306,050

2006
On November 7, 2006, Walter B. Jones won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Craig Weber (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3, General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Walter B. Jones incumbent	68.6%	99,519
	Democratic	Craig Weber	31.4%	45,458
Total Votes				144,977

2004
On November 2, 2004, Walter B. Jones won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Roger A. Eaton (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3, General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Walter B. Jones incumbent	70.7%	171,863
	Democratic	Roger A. Eaton	29.3%	71,227
Total Votes				243,090

2002
On November 5, 2002, Walter B. Jones won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Gary Goodson (Libertarian) in the general election.

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3, General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Walter B. Jones incumbent	90.7%	131,448
	Libertarian	Gary Goodson	9.3%	13,486
Total Votes				144,934

2000
On November 7, 2000, Walter B. Jones won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Leigh Harvey McNairy (D) and David F. Russell (Libertarian) in the general election.

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3, General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Walter B. Jones incumbent	61.4%	121,940
	Democratic	Leigh Harvey McNairy	37.3%	74,058
	Libertarian	David F. Russell	1.2%	2,457
Total Votes				198,455

Redistricting

2020-2023

See also: Redistricting in North Carolina after the 2020 census

On October 25, 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly adopted new congressional district boundaries. The legislation adopting the new maps passed the state Senate by a vote of 28-18 and the State House by a vote of 64-40. Both votes were strictly along party lines with all votes in favor by Republicans and all votes against by Democrats.

The New York Times' Maggie Astor wrote, "The map creates 10 solidly Republican districts, three solidly Democratic districts and one competitive district. Currently, under the lines drawn by a court for the 2022 election, each party holds seven seats. The Democratic incumbents who have been essentially drawn off the map are Representatives Jeff Jackson in the Charlotte area, Kathy Manning in the Greensboro area and Wiley Nickel in the Raleigh area. A seat held by a fourth Democrat, Representative Don Davis, is expected to be competitive."

How does redistricting in North Carolina work? In North Carolina, the state legislature is responsible for drawing both congressional and state legislative district lines. District maps cannot be vetoed by the governor. State legislative redistricting must take place in the first regular legislative session following the United States Census. There are no explicit deadlines in place for congressional redistricting.

State law establishes the following requirements for state legislative districts:

• Districts must be contiguous and compact.
• Districts "must cross county lines as little as possible." If counties are grouped together, the group should include as few counties as possible.
• Communities of interest should be taken into account.

There are no similar restrictions in place regarding congressional districts.

Below are the congressional maps in effect before and after the 2020 redistricting cycle. The map on the right was in effect for North Carolina’s 2024 congressional elections.

Below are the congressional maps in effect before and after the 2020 redistricting cycle. The map on the right was in effect for North Carolina’s 2024 congressional elections.

Below are the congressional maps in effect before and after the 2020 redistricting cycle. The map on the right was in effect for North Carolina’s 2024 congressional elections.

North Carolina District 3
before 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

North Carolina District 3
after 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

See also: Redistricting in North Carolina after the 2010 census

North Carolina's congressional district plan was subject to litigation following its adoption in 2011. Two challenges to the plan were heard by the Supreme Court of the United States: Cooper v. Harris, which was decided in 2017, and Rucho v. Common Cause, which decided on June 27, 2019. As a result of Rucho, North Carolina's congressional district plan was upheld. For more complete information, see this article.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

2024

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+11. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 11 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made North Carolina's 3rd the 132nd most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 58.0%-40.7%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+15. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 15 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made North Carolina's 3rd the 86th most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 36.7% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 62.0%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+12. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 12 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District the 110th most Republican nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.99. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.99 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in North Carolina
• North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024
• North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District election, 2022
• North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020
• North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 3

Footnotes

[show]

North Carolina's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Ted Budd (R)

Thom Tillis (R)

Representatives

District 1

Donald Davis (D)

District 2

Deborah Ross (D)

District 3

Gregory Murphy (R)

District 4

Valerie Foushee (D)

District 5

Virginia Foxx (R)

District 6

Addison McDowell (R)

District 7

David Rouzer (R)

District 8

Mark Harris (R)

District 9

Richard Hudson (R)

District 10

Pat Harrigan (R)

District 11

Chuck Edwards (R)

District 12

Alma Adams (D)

District 13

Brad Knott (R)

District 14

Timothy Moore (R)

Republican Party (12)

Democratic Party (4)