The winners, losers, and weirdness of North Carolina’s primary

My primary-night superlatives go beyond the race everyone watched.

Mar 09, 2026

Are you sick of hearing about the primary election yet? Well, too bad — because it’s not going away anytime soon.

I’ve obviously written a ton about the biggest-ticket race last week, the still-pending primary race between Sen. Phil Berger and Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page.

But even beyond that, it was a pretty wild night. Eight incumbents went down (five Republicans, three Democrats), which is highly unusual. That’s what I focused on for my newspaper column. You can read that here, free with gift link: North Carolina lawmakers just found out nobody is safe

Here are a few of my trademarked Longleaf Politics awards for the 2026 primary election.

Biggest surprise: Caroline Eason

Eight-term Rep. Kelly Hastings was not on my list of vulnerable incumbents, but sure enough, he went down to a pharmacist in her mid-20s from Lawndale.

Caroline Eason has a fascinating backstory, and her victory feels a lot like that of Rep. Wyatt Gable in 2024. It wasn’t one of those super slick, polished campaigns, but it was incredibly effective.

Good for her. I’ve invited her to come on the Longleaf Politics podcast but haven’t heard back yet.

Best ad: Rep. Jimmy Dixon

Speaking of unpolished, my favorite ad of the primary season is solidly in that category as well. Eastern N.C. legend Rep. Jimmy Dixon sent out this mailer as he faced Marcella Barbour.

That race was supposed to be a lot closer than it ended up being. Dixon raked in nearly 82% of the vote. Bringing the meat, indeed.

Most convincing: Rep. Jake Johnson

One of the most interesting races involved Rep. Jake Johnson, challenged by former Rep. Mike Hager — who was seeking to reclaim his position in the district covering Polk, Rutherford, Henderson and McDowell counties. Hager had been House majority leader before stepping down in 2016.

Johnson took 61% of the vote. That is a resounding victory in a hard-fought race against a tough opponent. Rep. Johnson was on my list of potential “future governors,” and this is a solid line on the resume.

Most misunderstood result: Michael Whatley

I’ve started to see Democrats crow that Michael Whatley is in a weak position because he got “only” 65% of the primary vote for U.S. Senate. That’s not really accurate. Yes, Roy Cooper got 92%, but he also is a former two-term governor who had no active opposition. Whatley is still relatively unknown and faced incredibly active opposition in Don Brown.

If Whatley had won with, say, 45% of the vote then I would agree that it was a disappointing result for him. But as it stands, that’s a pretty darn good showing for someone who has yet to build a name for himself.

Most discouraging: Habekah Cannon

The judicial system in Mecklenburg County was already in pretty rough shape, but it looks like it’s going to get even worse. A self-proclaimed “jail abolitionist” just defeated an incumbent judge in the Democrat primary, and she’ll soon take the bench as there is no Republican opposition.

This lady is about as far out there as it gets. She was even too much of an activist to work for the public defenders office. I generally like that judges are elected in North Carolina, but results like this make me reconsider.