Democrat Ojeda defeats Rep. Hudson in North Carolina's 9th District, NC Newsroom reports

Democrat Richard Ojeda has defeated Republican Rep. Richard Hudson in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District, according to reports early Wednesday from NC Newsroom and NC Newsline. NC Newsroom reported Ojeda leading 138,707 to 132,692 with all 169 precincts counted. The results are unofficial, and no formal certification has taken place.

Traders now treat a Democratic win in the district as certain, though the question has not formally resolved. The bets began the night as a toss-up. Within about an hour of the first moves they rose to likely, then to all but certain as the count advanced. Through the early morning hours they held there and settled at certain. Bets on Hudson, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, fell over the same stretch from a toss-up to a long shot and then to nothing.

The result is a sharp turn from pre-election expectations. Hudson won the district by 18.5 percentage points in 2024, and the Washington Post said Cook Political Report rated the 2026 race Likely Republican. Ojeda, a retired Army major and former West Virginia state senator, won the Democratic primary with 41.77% of the vote. NC Newsline, in a separate report, said strong Democratic turnout flipped at least five U.S. House seats across North Carolina.

Earlier in the night, a tracker using state election data showed Ojeda ahead 119,927 to 113,422 with 74% of expected votes counted, and coverage at the time said the race remained uncalled. The local reports of his victory move the story beyond that partial count. Cooper's Senate win in North Carolina, reported earlier by the Post and the Associated Press, had pointed to Democratic strength statewide, but it did not decide this separate contest.

The night's other contests moved in the same direction. Traders pulled back sharply on Republicans winning the Nebraska Senate race, from a toss-up to unlikely. They also treat Republicans keeping Senate control as a lost cause, and they have ruled out Republicans finishing with exactly 48 Senate seats. Bets on Democrats winning Nevada's governor race rose from likely to all but certain.

What comes next is official confirmation of the count. NC Newsroom says the statewide canvass is scheduled for Nov. 13. The question is decided by the party of the district winner under a consensus of credible reporting, with official Federal Election Commission results as the fallback if that consensus is ambiguous.