Several NC Democratic lawmakers who voted with the GOP ousted in primary
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- North Carolina Democrats who joined GOP veto overrides lost several primary races.
- Veto-override votes led to primary challenges; endorsements influenced some races.
- Party leaders warned members that crossover votes could cost them constituent support.
Voting out of line with the Democratic Party in North Carolina is proving to be a fraught decision.
Several Democratic lawmakers who sided with Republicans last year lost in North Carolina’s primary election, according to unofficial results Tuesday night.
Results will be certified later this month.
Those incumbents are Reps. Shelly Willingham, Carla Cunningham and Nasif Majeed.
Meanwhile, Rep. Rodney Pierce, a Democrat from Roanoke Rapids, handily defeated Michael Wray in the race for House District 27
Wray had lost to Pierce in 2024 after Wray voted with Republicans on some bills.
Details on Democratic incumbents trailing
Willingham, a six-term lawmaker from Rocky Mount, received just over 44% of votes, finishing second to Patricia Smith, who received just over 55% in her bid for House District 23. Smith is an accountant and a minister.
Willingham has voted several times with Republicans — who are one seat short of a supermajority in the House — including on overrides of Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes. Veto overrides are seen as a sort of litmus test within the party.
Cunningham, a seven-term lawmaker, received just over 21% of votes, losing to Rodney Sadler, who received almost 70% in his bid for House District 106 in north Charlotte. Sadler is a Baptist minister and a political newcomer.
Cunningham, who has voted with Republicans at times, faced heightened backlash after siding with them on a controversial veto override of a hotly debated immigration enforcement bill. The controversy intensified following comments she made about immigrants during a floor speech explaining her vote. Sadler secured endorsements from Stein and the influential Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Majeed, a four-term Charlotte lawmaker, received just over 21% of the vote, finishing second to Veleria Levy, who received just over 68% in the race for House District 99.
Levy works in health care policy and consulting, having founded her own health care consulting business, and has served in local and state Democratic leadership roles.
Majeed, who rarely voted with Republicans, faced a primary challenger after backlash within the Democratic Party over he voted to support Stein’s veto override on a bill addressing sexuality and religion in schools and school libraries.
Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch said at the time that Democrats who voted against their party that day, including Majeed, risked having their constituents vote to replace them, The News & Observer previously reported.
Not the first time
Wray previously represented House District 27. In 2024, Wray — along with former Reps. Cecil Brockman and Garland Pierce, as well as Willingham and Cunningham — drew criticism from the Young Democrats of North Carolina, the official youth arm of the North Carolina Democratic Party, for joining Republicans in voting for the GOP budget.
Former longtime Rep. Mike Woodard also faced a primary that year after he was criticized for voting three times to override then-Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes on noncontroversial bills dealing with sales tax and the Consumer Finance Act.
Of that group, Woodard and Wray lost their 2024 primaries. Brockman narrowly survived but resigned this year after facing charges related to alleged sex crimes involving a minor.
