2026 Candidates
Candidate filing for the 2026 election started Monday, Dec 1, and ran through Friday, Dec 19, at noon.
The list of offices up for election in 2026 may be found here.
The final list of candidates who filed in Orange County may be found on the Board of Elections website here.
There are no local races in Orange County this year that have more than one Republican running to trigger a primary between them. Therefore, the Republican ballot for the March 3, 2026 primary election will only contain two statewide contested primary elections: the US Senate race and the race for NC Court of Appeals Judge (Seat 1). If you live in the Orange County School District, you will also see a non-partisan primary race for Orange County School Board.
The following Republican candidates are running unopposed in our local primary races this year, giving them a "bye" until the general election in the fall where they will go up against their Democrat counterparts.
- Lou Capitanio, County Commissioner District 2
- Jeff Hoagland, County Commissioner At-Large
- Laura Pichardo, State Senate District 23
- Mahesh (Max) Ganorkar, US House of Representatives, 4th District
Keep an eye out for them as they begin campaigning ahead of the general election in November. If you'd like to help support these candidates in their campaigns, let us know and we can connect you.
Vote The Whole Ballot!
Be a responsible voter, do your research, know your candidates, and tell others about your choices. Former RNC Chairman Michael Whatley says, "Having a 5-minute conversation with someone about your candidate makes them 5 times more likely to vote for your candidate."