NC Rep. Virginia Foxx narrowly trails Democratic challenger as lead in race flips back and forth

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi, Esther Frances and Ronni Butts, The News & Observer (Raleigh) on Nov 10, 2026

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Republican U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx narrowly trails her Democratic challenger as county election boards review and count more ballots.

The lead flipped back and forth Tuesday, but as more results came in, Chuck Hubbard’s lead stretched to 196 votes as of 5:45 p.m., extending his 99-vote lead from election night.

The results are not final. Several counties in North Carolina have not posted provisional ballot counts.

If the final count is within a 1% margin, the trailing candidate could request a recount. The candidates could also file formal challenges if they believe the vote count includes ineligible voters.

Foxx, an 11-term representative from Banner Elk who represents the state’s 5th Congressional District, is in one of several undecided congressional contests where Republicans finished within 1% of their Democratic opponents, many of them unexpectedly.

On Monday, six days after the Nov. 3 election, Foxx trailed Democrat Chuck Hubbard by 99 votes, or 0.03%. But that was before hundreds of provisional ballots were counted.

Provisional ballots are cast when a voter’s eligibility can’t be confirmed at the polls and are counted only after county election officials verify that eligibility.

After all precincts reported their votes on election night, Foxx said that she would not concede until all votes are counted. Counties won’t finalize the election until Friday.

On Nov. 6, Foxx requested that nonpartisan election observers be sent to the 5th District as county election boards finalized their counts.

Hubbard, a longtime journalist from Wilkes County, posted on social media that he attended the first day of new member orientation on Monday in Washington, D.C.

Foxx, who is among the most powerful Republicans in the U.S. House, was not a key Democratic target in the midterm election.

The GOP has led multiple rounds of redistricting in recent years, and this year’s maps were drawn with the aim of giving Republicans an 11-3 advantage.

Two other races where Republican incumbents hold narrow leads are also still in limbo, meaning Democrats could pick up even more seats.

Elsewhere, four Republican incumbents lost their reelection bids.

Those were freshman Rep. Addison McDowell in the 6th District; Rep. Richard Hudson, National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, in the 9th; freshman Rep. Brad Knott, a former federal prosecutor, in the 13th; and freshman Rep. Tim Moore, a former longtime state House speaker, in the 14th.

Rep. Chuck Edwards, a Republican, ended his reelection bid after a House Ethics Committee report on sexual harassment allegations. His replacement on the ballot, Republican state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, lost the 11th District race.

Their seats will go to Democrats Cyril Jefferson, the mayor of High Point; Richard Ojeda, a retired U.S. Army major and former West Virginia state senator; Paul Barringer, a healthcare consultant and former lawyer; LaKesha Womack, a first-time candidate from Charlotte; and Jamie Ager, a Fairview farmer whose grandfather once represented the 11th District.