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Democratic former state Rep. Raymond Smith has pulled off a major upset, unseating Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy of Eastern North Carolina. Murphy’s seven-year tenure in Congress—he won a special election in September 2019—will end in January.
Though Murphy led Smith narrowly on Election Night, he fell behind Tuesday as provisional ballots were counted, trailing by just under 300 votes. Murphy conceded on Wednesday morning in a post on X.
Democrats have now flipped at least six U.S. House seats in North Carolina, and appear on track for one more. Republican Virginia Foxx was also trailing after provisional ballots were counted. If she loses, Democrats will have won 11 of the state’s 14 congressional seats.
Republican state lawmakers did Murphy no favors last year when they redrew parts of his district in an attempt to unseat neighboring Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis. The move backfired.
In making Davis’ district more conservative, GOP lawmakers made Murphy’s 3rd Congressional District more purple. Republicans did so by removing six coastal counties that heavily swung for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election and adding Wayne, Greene, and Lenoir, which support Republicans but are less staunchly conservative. The reconfigured 3rd District also gained Wilson County, which has historically been nearly evenly divided.
Murphy, a 63-year-old physician, had been a loyal supporter of Trump, campaigning alongside him in the weeks leading up to the election. The loss deals yet another blow to state and national Republicans who are still reeling from last week’s blue tsunami.
Smith, a 65-year-old Army veteran, campaigned on an economic-driven message to appeal to voters’ frustrations with rising gas prices amid an escalating war with Iran. Absent a clearer explanation from the White House about its aims, Smith has said he’d oppose additional funding for the war.
Smith served in the state House from 2019 to 2022. He’s since unsuccessfully pursued a number of elected offices, losing in a primary for state Senate in 2022, falling six votes short in a Goldsboro mayoral race the following year, and losing in a general election contest for state Senate in 2024.
“Whether you may have voted for me or not, I intend to work just as hard for you,” Smith said in a statement. “Our communities deserve to be heard in Washington, and I’m ready to get to work.”
In his concession, Murphy hinted that his political career might not be over. “My family and I will explore all options as we spend the next few months reflecting on what the future holds and what God has in store for us,” he wrote.
