January 20, 2026
Although there are a multitude of critical issues about which you will want to contact your legislators (scroll to the bottom of this email about how to do that),
we would like to continue to focus on election-related issues this week. North Carolina is heavily gerrymandered, and voting rights are under attack. It is critical that we get to the polls, and get our family, friends, and neighbors engaged in this midterm election. Below is information on verifying your registration, reviewing sample ballots, candidates for the 10th Congressional District elections, voter forums, and important dates.
If you haven’t already done so, double-check your voter registration.
You can do this by going to the Board of Elections website
https://www.ncsbe.gov/registering/checking-your-registration
and click on the blue button: “Launch the Voter Search.” Enter your name and birth year to find a link to your registration information. Make sure everything is correct. Encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to do so as well.
Please feel free to notify the Legislative Committee if you have difficulty verifying your registration or want to identify other voter registration concerns, so that we can share this information with the ICCV membership.
You can find your sample ballot for the March primary at the above link also. What races will you be voting in? Who are the candidates? Which candidate do you believe will best represent you in office? It is vitally important to learn about the candidates and their positions.
For this week, we would like to focus on the 10th Congressional District. There are 6 Democrats in this primary hoping to challenge and, ultimately, defeat incumbent Rep. Pat Harrigan, who also has a primary opponent. They are (listed in ballot order):
DEMOCRAT
Ashley Bell https://www.ashleybellforcongress.com
West Caudle https://www.westcaudleforcongress.com
Mir Yarfitz https://mirforcongress.com
Ralph Scott, Jr. https://x.com/RalphScott80421
Marcus Pearson https://www.pearsonforcongress.com
Harry Morley https://harryforthehouse.com
REPUBLICAN
Matthew Sin https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584733981269
Pat Harrigan harrigan.house.gov
Check the candidates’ websites for information about their platforms.
Candidate forums for the Democratic primary are scheduled for:
o January 26, 2026 6 – 8 pm Forsyth County Public Library, Winston-Salem
o January 31, 2026 10 am – 12 noon Patrick Beaver Library, Hickory
We are not aware of any candidate events for the Republican primary at this time.
There is also a forum for Republican Catawba County Commissioner Candidates:
o LWVCV Forum for Catawba County Commissioner Republican Primary Candidates: January 29, 2026 @ 6:00 – 7:30 PM, Catawba County Library, 115 W C St., Newton
Note: There is no Democratic Primary for this race. Three Democratic candidates advance directly to November general election.
Remember these important dates:
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE: February 6, 2026 @ 5:00 PM
Even if you have checked and know that you are correctly registered, please talk to your eligible friends, neighbors, and family to ensure that they are registered as well.
IN-PERSON EARLY VOTING BEGINS: February 12, 2026
Candidate information will be available soon. Sample ballots also may be found at the State Board of Elections website provided above.
ABSENTEE BALLOT REQUEST DEADLINE: February 17, 2026 @ 5:00 PM
IN-PERSON EARLY VOTING ENDS: February 28, 2026 @ 3:00 PM
PRIMARY ELECTION DAY: March 3, 2026
ABSENTEE BALLOT RETURN DEADLINE: March 3, 2026 @ 7:30 PM
*** Important note about mail-in ballots: The USPS has changed their postmark process. Items are not postmarked on the date they were placed in the box, but on the date they are processed by the sorting facility. So be sure to send mail-in ballots extra early. Alternatively, you can take your mail-in ballot into the post office and request a hand postmark.
Continue calling your elected representatives about issues that matter to you. The NC General Assembly is out of session, and the U S Congress is still completely dysfunctional. For example, on the extension of the ACA subsidies, the House did pass a resolution, but the Clerk of the House sent the wrong version to the Senate. This could have been a major problem, but since the Senate is nowhere near agreement on their version of a healthcare bill, the House has plenty of time to go through the procedures needed to correct this. Unfortunately, the ultimate outcome is that if your health care premiums increased this month, they are probably going to stay up. Feel free to continue reaching out to Congress on this and any other issues. 5calls.org is an excellent source for updated information.
Other issues worthy of contacting your legislators include ICE, Venezuela, ACA subsidies, Greenland . And the DOJ has only released about 1% of the Epstein files, which were legally required to be turned over to Congress by December 19.
- Senator Thom Tillis: (202) 224-6342
- Senator Ted Budd: (202) 224-3154
- Representative Pat Harrigan: (202) 225-2576
- Representative Virginia Foxx: (202) 225-2071
To find and contact your state legislators, go to https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators
Enter your home address to link to contacts for your NC Senator and Representative.
Thank you for everything you do to protect our democracy!
ICCV Legislative Committee
“With Liberty and Justice for ALL”