Rogers Wins House District 118 Seat
Jimmy Rogers defeated Democrat Danny Davis by 605 votes in the North Carolina House District 118 race.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Elections
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Republican Jimmy Rogers won North Carolina House District 118, defeating Democrat Danny Davis 50.79% to 49.21%. The margin was 605 votes out of more than 38,000 cast.
Why it matters
Rogers's win came after he defeated three-term Republican incumbent Mark Pless in the March 3 primary, and the narrow general election margin shows how competitive the district remains for North Carolina's statewide readership.
Rogers won by 605 votes out of more than 38,000 cast, a 50.79% to 49.21% split. Democrats averaged 37.8% of the vote in the district between 2016 and 2022.
The players
Jimmy Rogers
Rogers is a Republican who spent 26 years on the Haywood County school board before winning the House District 118 seat.
Danny Davis
Davis is a Democrat who has served as a district court judge, a tribal judge, and attorney general for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Mark Pless
Pless is a three-term Republican incumbent who lost the March 3 primary to Rogers after bringing more than $200 million in state appropriations to the district since Tropical Storm Fred.
The details
Rogers, who spent 26 years on the Haywood County school board, defeated Davis, a former district court judge, tribal judge and attorney general for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The district covers Haywood and Madison counties, where Tropical Storm Fred caused devastation in 2021.
Timeline
March 3: Rogers defeats incumbent Mark Pless in the Republican primary.
November 3: General election held, with all precincts reporting the final count.
Political Context
Pless attributed more than $200 million in state appropriations to the district following Tropical Storm Fred in 2021. Rogers's victory raises the question of how that recovery funding will be pursued by a new representative.
Residents of Haywood and Madison counties will have a new state representative for House District 118. The outcome affects how state appropriations for disaster recovery are advocated for in the district.
The takeaway
Narrow margins in competitive districts can turn on a few hundred votes, so local results carry statewide weight. Following how the new representative handles storm recovery funding will show what this race means for the district.
Further reading
Explore more in Elections for North Carolina's latest state legislative results.
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