Democrat Evonne Hopkins unseated Rep. Mike Schietzelt in N.C. House 35, and Wake's $680 million school bond passed. See how Wake Forest precincts voted.
Wake Forest will have a new member of the N.C. House in January. Democrat Evonne Hopkins beat Republican Rep. Mike Schietzelt in District 35, which covers about two-thirds of the town’s voters.
Hopkins won 25,607 votes, or 54.9%, to Schietzelt’s 20,994. The margin was 4,613 votes. Schietzelt was finishing his first term.
Wake County’s $680 million school construction bond also passed, with 63.4% of the vote.
All figures are unofficial results from the N.C. State Board of Elections. We took them from the board’s precinct results file, published Wednesday.
There were no Town of Wake Forest races on the ballot. Town elections are held in odd-numbered years.
How Wake Forest voted
The state does not report results by town, and Wake County does not split early votes or mail ballots by precinct. So the closest we can get to Wake Forest is two partial counts:
- Election Day in seven Wake Forest precincts: 19-03, 19-07, 19-11, 19-20, 19-22, 19-23 and 19-24. They hold 32,261 of the town’s 42,038 registered voters, and 93% of the voters in them live inside town limits, according to the state’s Wake County voter file. About 6,500 people voted in them on Election Day.
- Early voting at the Joyner Park Community Center: 24,221 ballots. Any Wake County voter could use it. Our early voting count found that 13,474 of the people who voted there, just over half, were Wake Forest voters.
The two groups voted very differently. Election Day voters in town leaned Republican in most contested races. Early voters at Joyner Park leaned Democratic, though less than the county as a whole.
| Race | Election Day, 7 Wake Forest precincts | Joyner Park early voting | Whole race |
|---|---|---|---|
| School bond, yes | 54.5% | 56.3% | 63.4% |
| N.C. House 35, Hopkins (D) | 46.8% | 60.6% | 54.9% |
| N.C. Senate 18, Fatmi (D) | 48.0% | 60.6% | 54.8% |
| U.S. Senate, Cooper (D) | 54.1% | 65.4% | 58.7% |
| Sheriff, Rowe (D) | 49.9% | 63.6% | 70.5% |
For House 35, the Election Day column covers the five of the seven precincts that are in the district: 19-03, 19-07, 19-22, 19-23 and 19-24. Election Day voters there favored Schietzelt, 2,244 to 1,977. District 35 voters at Joyner Park favored Hopkins, 10,971 to 7,143.
The legislature: three Wake Forest seats change hands
Wake Forest is split among three N.C. House districts and three state Senate districts. By the state voter files, the town’s 42,038 voters are divided this way:
- House 35: 28,001 voters
- House 66: 12,178 voters, in the west and south of town
- House 7: 1,859 voters, the part of town in Franklin County
- Senate 18: 38,426 voters; Senate 14: 1,753; Senate 11: 1,859
The results:
- N.C. House District 7: Democrat Mark Speed beat Republican Cory Thornton, 19,901 to 18,698, or 51.6%. The district covers Franklin County, including the town’s Franklin County voters.
- N.C. House District 66: Democrat Sarah Crawford had no opponent.
- N.C. Senate District 18: Democrat Haseeb Fatmi beat Republican Chris Stock, 54,157 to 42,310, or 54.8%. Libertarian Brad Hessel had 2.4%. Almost all of Wake Forest is in this district.
- N.C. Senate District 11: Democrat James D. Gailliard unseated Republican Sen. Lisa Stone Barnes, 45,342 to 40,845, or 51.4% to 46.3%. Libertarian Gavin Bell had 2.4%. The district includes the town’s Franklin County voters.
- N.C. Senate District 14: Democrat Dan Blue beat Republican Angela B. McCarty with 82.0%.
The new General Assembly meets in January.
Congress
- U.S. House District 2: Democrat Deborah Ross won with 75.1% over Republican Eugene F. Douglass. About 27,800 Wake Forest voters are in this district.
- U.S. House District 13: Democrat Paul Barringer unseated Republican U.S. Rep. Brad Knott, 159,981 to 152,329, or 50.5% to 48.1%. About 14,300 Wake Forest voters are in District 13, including precincts 19-03 and 19-07 and the Franklin County part of town. On Election Day those two precincts favored Barringer, 933 to 836.
- U.S. Senate: Democrat Roy Cooper won with 58.7% statewide and 72.7% in Wake County.
Wake County races
- School bond: passed 320,989 to 185,094. The Wake County Public School System’s 2026 bond page lists the projects by school.
- Community college bond: passed with 62.7%.
- Board of Commissioners, at large: Democrats Mona Singh and Christine Kushner won the two seats. On Election Day in the seven Wake Forest precincts, Republican Kyle Stogoski drew the most votes, 2,882, just ahead of Singh’s 2,766.
- Board of Commissioners, District 1: Democrat Don Mial had no opponent.
- Board of Education, District 1: Jasmine Zavala won with 48.7% in a three-way race. Bonnie Greaves had 35.7% and Sebrina Pierce 14.8%. About 25,700 Wake Forest voters are in school board District 1. Election Day voters in the town’s precincts preferred Greaves, 1,454 to 1,219. The town’s other school board district, District 3, was not on the ballot.
- Sheriff: Democrat Willie Rowe won with 70.5% over Republican Kenny Blackwell. On Election Day the seven Wake Forest precincts split almost evenly, 3,234 for Blackwell to 3,219 for Rowe.
- Clerk of Superior Court: Democrat Claudia C. Croom won with 70.4%.
- District attorney: Wiley Nickel had no opponent.
The three constitutional amendments
All three amendments passed statewide. Election Day voters in Wake Forest backed all three by wide margins, and Joyner Park early voters backed them too, by less.
| Amendment | Election Day, 7 Wake Forest precincts | Joyner Park early voting | Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limit local property tax increases | 69.5% for | 58.8% for | 60.4% for |
| Cap the state income tax at 3.5% | 70.1% for | 58.6% for | 61.9% for |
| Require photo ID from all voters | 67.4% for | 52.7% for | 59.6% for |
The property tax amendment tells the General Assembly to pass laws limiting increases in local property tax levies. Any limit on the Town of Wake Forest or Wake County will come from those future laws, not from the amendment itself. Our property tax guide has the current rates.
What it means for you
- These results are unofficial. The Wake County Board of Elections certifies them at its canvass on Friday, Nov. 13. Eligible provisional ballots are added before then.
- School bond money is not spent at once. Each project still goes through the district’s yearly capital plan.
- New legislators take office in January. Check which House and Senate districts you live in with the state’s voter lookup.
- No town election until 2027. Our voting guide covers registration and what to bring.
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