North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District is a Republican-leaning seat in the central part of the state, covering communities that include Burlington, Asheboro, and Pinehurst. It is represented by Richard Hudson, a Republican who moved into the seat in 2023 after redistricting and who now chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee. The district is best known nationally for the 2018 absentee ballot fraud scandal that forced the only do-over congressional election in modern American history.
Where the District Is and Who Lives There
The district’s population of roughly 790,000 is 56% white, 20% Black, and 15% Hispanic, with a median household income of about $68,360 and a poverty rate of 13.7%.1Census Reporter. Congressional District 9, NC Nearly 90% of residents hold a high school diploma or higher, and about 29% have a bachelor’s degree.
Politically, the seat carries a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+8. Donald Trump won it by 16 points in 2024, and Cook rates it Solid Republican for the 2026 cycle.2Cook Political Report. North Carolina 9th District Race Rating
The 2018 Absentee Ballot Fraud Scandal
In November 2018, Republican Mark Harris appeared to defeat Democrat Dan McCready by just over 900 votes. The results were never certified.3WFDD. GOP Candidate in Disputed U.S. House Race Won’t Run Again State investigators uncovered an absentee ballot-collection scheme run by a political operative named Leslie McCrae Dowless, who had been hired by the Harris campaign. At a public evidentiary hearing in February 2019, Harris’s own son testified that he had warned his father against working with Dowless.4ABC News. North Carolina Election Fraud Scandal
On the fourth day of the hearing, Harris conceded that a new election should be called, and the North Carolina State Board of Elections voted to order one. Harris announced on February 26, 2019, that he would not run in the do-over, citing health problems including two previous strokes and an upcoming surgery.3WFDD. GOP Candidate in Disputed U.S. House Race Won’t Run Again
A North Carolina grand jury indicted Dowless in July 2019 on more than a dozen state criminal charges, including obstruction of justice, illegal possession of absentee ballots, and perjury, tied to the 2016 general election and the 2018 primary and general elections.5Washington Post. New Indictments Handed Down in NC Election Fraud Scheme He rejected a plea deal in November 2021 and died of cancer on April 24, 2022, before standing trial. The state case was declared moot after his death.6WSET. Dowless, Key Figure in NC Absentee Ballot Fraud Probe, Dies
The 2019 Do-Over Election
The special election was held on September 10, 2019. Republican state senator Dan Bishop defeated McCready by about two points, winning 50.7% to 48.7%.7New York Times. Results: North Carolina House District 9 Special Election Bishop took office on September 17, 2019, and served through 2022.8GovTrack. Dan Bishop, Former Representative for North Carolina
How Redistricting Reshaped the Seat
The NC-09 that existed during the 2018 scandal is not the NC-09 on today’s map. After the 2020 census, North Carolina’s congressional lines went through a long legal and legislative fight. The state Supreme Court struck down the legislature’s initial maps as a partisan gerrymander in February 2022, and courts imposed an interim plan for that year’s elections. After the court’s composition changed, it reversed course in April 2023, ruling that partisan gerrymandering claims were not justiciable under the state constitution. The legislature enacted a new congressional map in October 2023.9Loyola Law School Redistricting. North Carolina Redistricting Under the redrawn lines, Bishop shifted into the 8th District and Richard Hudson, who had represented the 8th since 2013, moved into the 9th.8GovTrack. Dan Bishop, Former Representative for North Carolina
Another round arrived in October 2025, when the legislature passed a mid-decade revision (SB 249) that primarily redrew the 1st and 3rd Districts in eastern North Carolina to produce an 11-3 Republican advantage in the state’s delegation.10Carolina Journal. Legislators Seek to Dismiss Challenges of New NC Congressional Map Legal challenges on First Amendment retaliation and racial and partisan gerrymandering grounds were filed, but a three-judge federal panel declined to block the map for the 2026 elections. Those lawsuits remain active.9Loyola Law School Redistricting. North Carolina Redistricting
Richard Hudson, the Current Representative
Hudson is a Charlotte native who graduated from Myers Park High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he served as student body president.11Office of Rep. Richard Hudson. About Richard Hudson He worked as a congressional staffer in Washington, rising to chief of staff for three House Republicans: Virginia Foxx, John Carter, and Mike Conaway.12North Carolina Health News. Richard Hudson
He won his first House race in 2012 in what was then the 8th District and has served continuously since January 2013, moving to the 9th for the 2024 cycle. In November 2024 he defeated Democrat Nigel Bristow by 18.5 points, 56.3% to 37.8%, with independent Shelane Etchison taking about 6%.13New York Times. Results: North Carolina U.S. House District 9
Hudson’s Role in House Republican Leadership
Hudson entered House Republican leadership during the 117th Congress as Conference Secretary.14Carolina Journal. Hudson Re-Elected as NRCC Chairman, Republicans Win House Majority His colleagues elected him chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee for the 118th Congress in 2022 and re-elected him on November 13, 2024. That makes him the fifth-ranking House Republican and, per the NRCC, the highest-ranking Republican member of Congress in North Carolina history.15NRCC. About the Chairman As NRCC chair he is responsible for protecting and expanding the House Republican majority, and he has described the 2026 map as roughly 30 to 40 competitive seats out of 435, calling the fight “30 knife fights in 30 dark alleys.”16Punchbowl News. Hudson Battleground
The 2026 Race
Hudson filed his statement of candidacy for the 2026 cycle on January 21, 2026, reporting $2.78 million in total receipts and $1.54 million cash on hand through the end of March.17Federal Election Commission. Richard L. Hudson Jr. Candidate Page Bristow, a retired New York City police detective who later worked as a probation and parole official in North Carolina, is running again on the Democratic side.18Nigel Bristow for Congress. Nigel Bristow for Congress The filing deadline was December 19, 2025, and the primary is scheduled for March 3, 2026. Cook rates the general election Solid Republican.2Cook Political Report. North Carolina 9th District Race Rating