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House District 20

New Hanover County · 2026

Lean ROpen seat

Partisan baseline (2024)

R+9.6

runs 7.9 pts more Republican than NC overall · moving toward Republicans since 2018

2024 result

R+11.6

won by Davis (R)

Tim Merrick

Democrat · Candidate

New Hanover County Board of Education member and retired chiropractor
Wilmington Democrat running for the open seat

campaign site

Dane Scalise

Republican · Candidate

New Hanover County Commissioner and attorney
Endorsed by retiring Rep. Ted Davis for the open 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 20, from the Census American Community Survey (2020-2024). The dark tick on each bar marks North Carolina overall.

Median household income

$90,252

▲ vs NC · NC $75k

Bachelor's degree or higher

48%

▲ vs NC · NC 36%

Poverty rate

▼ vs NC · NC 13%

Homeownership

74%

▲ vs NC · NC 67%

Unemployment

4.9%

▲ vs NC · NC 4.7%

Uninsured rate

▼ vs NC · NC 10%

Top communities: Wilmington 87% · Castle Hayne 10% · Wrightsville Beach 3%

Who registers vs. who votes

Each group's share of registered voters against its share of those who actually voted in 2024. About 77k voters are registered here; 59,241 voted in 2024.

White

87%

89%

Black

7.4%

6.7%

Hispanic

2.8%

2.2%

Asian

1.0%

0.8%

American Indian

0.2%

Other

1.9%

1.3%

Registered (2024)Voted (2024)

Voter race and ethnicity are self-reported at registration; voters without a designation (8% 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 44% to 48%.

Precinct detail

17 precincts.

About this seat

HD-20 is rated Lean R from its 2024 partisan baseline of R+9.6. Districts in this range are competitive when candidates, campaigns and the year’s statewide environment line up against the district’s modest partisan tilt. Republicans have gained 0.7 points of vote share here since 2018, moving the seat’s two-way margin 1.3 points their way.

Campaign money

Follow the money ›

Merrick (D) $108K cash$277K cash Scalise (R)

Scalise holds 2.6x the cash on hand. Raised this cycle: Merrick $170K / Scalise $327K.

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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