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House District 115

Buncombe County · 2026
Toss-Up
Partisan baseline (2024)
R+0.5
runs 1.2 pts more Democratic than NC overall · moving toward Republicans since 2018
2024 result
D+2.8
won by Prather (D)
Rep. Lindsey Prather
Democrat · Incumbent
  • Former public-school teacher; now a university admissions professional
  • Part of a younger wave of Asheville-area Democratic legislators
campaign site
Anthony Penland
Republican · Challenger
  • Fire Chief of Swannanoa with over 30 years in public safety
  • Served on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners by appointment in 2020, then lost election to the seat
campaign site

Election night results

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Live returns and a precinct map for this race on Nov. 3.

Early voting

See early voting ›

Ballots cast so far in this district, in person and by mail. Updated every morning.

Who lives here

The people of House District 115, from the Census American Community Survey (2020-2024). The dark tick on each bar marks North Carolina overall.

Median household income
$73,111
NC
▼ vs NC · NC $75k
Bachelor's degree or higher
36%
NC
▲ vs NC · NC 36%
Poverty rate
12%
NC
▼ vs NC · NC 13%
Homeownership
76%
NC
▲ vs NC · NC 67%
Unemployment
4.3%
NC
▼ vs NC · NC 4.7%
Uninsured rate
11%
NC
▲ vs NC · NC 10%
Top communities: Weaverville 26% · Candler 24% · Asheville 22% · Leicester 14% · Swannanoa 7%

Who registers vs. who votes

Each group's share of registered voters against its share of those who actually voted in 2024. About 69k voters are registered here; 52,484 voted in 2024.

White
93%
94%
Black
2.1%
1.6%
Hispanic
2.7%
2.1%
Asian
0.5%
0.5%
American Indian
0.2%
0.1%
Other
1.9%
1.5%
Registered (2024)Voted (2024)
Voter race and ethnicity are self-reported at registration; voters without a designation (7% here) are excluded from the voted-side shares. Source: NCSBE voter file, 2024.

How this seat has moved

Actual result (solid)MRPI composite (dashed)Shaded = midterm

How far this district swings

Across these cycles the Democratic share of the two-party vote here has ranged from 48% to 55%.

Precinct detail

21 precincts.

About this seat

HD-115 is rated Toss-Up from its 2024 partisan baseline of R+0.5. Districts this close to even are decided by candidates, campaigns, turnout and the year’s statewide environment rather than by underlying partisanship alone. Republicans have gained 0.6 points of vote share here since 2018, moving the seat’s two-way margin 1.1 points their way.

Campaign money

Follow the money ›
Prather (D) $168K cash$24K cash Penland (R)
Prather holds 6.9x the cash on hand. Raised this cycle: Prather $230K / Penland $25K.
Actual legislative results, observed except where marked · NCSBE 2018–2024 · boundaries: Redistricting Data Hub (redistrictingdatahub.org) · demographics: Census ACS 2020–2024 · voter file: NCSBE
Data as of October 29, 2026 · campaign finance last refreshed August 20, 2026
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