NC’s redrawn 1st District is most expensive race in US

North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District has become the most expensive House race on record, according to new ad spending data shared this week.

Democratic Rep. Don Davis (N.C.) is fighting for reelection in the newly redrawn district against GOP challenger Laurie Buckhout, a retired Army colonel.

A striking $52.9 million has been spent on the race so far, making it the most expensive House general election in the country’s history, according to AdImpact .

Nearly $30 million of this grand total has gone toward supporting the Democratic incumbent in the race, while the GOP nominee has received just more than $23 million in political ads.

Polling has indicated a tight match-up in the district, which was redrawn in a GOP-led effort to secure another seat for Republicans in the House. The Cook Political Report , a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates the race as a “toss-up.”

In 2024, the 1st District House election reported a total of $38.5 million spent in the race, while less than $7 million was spent in the 2022 election, in which Davis was first elected.

Following North Carolina’s redistricting effort, Republicans saw the district as an opportunity for a pickup this midterm cycle as the GOP fights to maintain control over both chambers of Congress.

Democrats are aiming to retake power in the House, with Decision Desk HQ placing their odds at achieving this at around 80 percent as of Thursday. The fight for control of the Senate appears tighter, with Democrats having a 60 percent chance of gaining a majority in the upper chamber.

The 2026 midterms are shaping up to be one of the most expensive elections in history, with AdImpact projecting earlier this month that spending this cycle could soon exceed the $11.2 billion spent in the 2024 presidential election.

Eight of the 10 races included on the political ad spending tracker’s list of the most expensive House elections in history are from this year.

Two other tight House races in Florida’s 25th District and Michigan’s 7th District have also broken previous spending records, attracting a respective $49.4 million and $47.7 million in spending, according to AdImpact.

The 2024 House election in New York’s 19th Congressional District, which Democratic Rep. Josh Riley won, still ranks fourth on the list with a total of $47.2 million spent. Additionally, Maine’s 2024 race in the state’s 2nd District remains on AdImpact’s top 10 list.