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House District 53

Johnston & Harnett counties · 2026
Likely R
Partisan baseline (2024)
R+23.0
runs 21.3 pts more Republican than NC overall · moving toward Democrats since 2018
2024 result
R+25.8
won by Penny (R)
Kevin G. Thurman
Democrat · Candidate
  • Harnett County native whose career includes work at Research Triangle Institute and Blue Cross NC.
  • Holds a bachelor's degree from Duke University and a master of public administration from North Carolina Central University.
campaign site
Rep. Howard L. Penny, Jr.
Republican · Incumbent
  • Retired from agribusiness, representing Harnett and Johnston counties.
  • Serves as House Deputy Majority Whip and has held the seat since 2020.
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 53, from the Census American Community Survey (2020-2024). The dark tick on each bar marks North Carolina overall.

Median household income
$73,960
NC
▼ vs NC · NC $75k
Bachelor's degree or higher
29%
NC
▼ vs NC · NC 36%
Poverty rate
12%
NC
▼ vs NC · NC 13%
Homeownership
75%
NC
▲ vs NC · NC 67%
Unemployment
4.1%
NC
▼ vs NC · NC 4.7%
Uninsured rate
11%
NC
▲ vs NC · NC 10%
Top communities: Angier 24% · Garner 20% · Dunn 14% · Willow Spring 9% · Lillington 7%

Who registers vs. who votes

Each group's share of registered voters against its share of those who actually voted in 2024. About 63k voters are registered here; 47,659 voted in 2024.

White
72%
76%
Black
18%
16%
Hispanic
6.8%
5.1%
Asian
0.8%
0.8%
American Indian
0.4%
0.4%
Other
2.3%
1.7%
Registered (2024)Voted (2024)
Voter race and ethnicity are self-reported at registration; voters without a designation (9% 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 34% to 37%.

Precinct detail

11 precincts.

About this seat

HD-53 is rated Likely R from its 2024 partisan baseline of R+23.0. Districts this far from even are not competitive in a typical cycle - the outcome tracks the district’s underlying partisanship rather than individual campaigns. Democrats have gained 2.8 points of vote share here since 2018, moving the seat’s two-way margin 5.6 points their way.

Campaign money

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Thurman (D) $0 cash$3K cash Penny (R)
Penny has a committee on file; Thurman has no machine-readable figures (nothing filed yet, or filed on paper). Raised this cycle: Thurman $0 / Penny $65K.
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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