SALISBURY, N.C. — Voters in the North Carolina's 6th congressional district will likely head back to the polls in May to choose who will represent them, after none of the candidates won enough votes in the Super Tuesday Republican primary.
There were six candidates vying for the seat including Addison McDowell, Bo Hines, Christian Castelli, Jay Wagner, Mark Walker and Mary Ann Contogiannis.
North Carolina's 6th congressional district is an open seat because the Democratic incumbent Kathy Manning decided not to run, with part of the reason being that Republicans redrew the district lines, creating a more heavily Republican district.
District 6 includes parts of Guilford, Forsyth, and Cabarrus counties and all of Davie, Davidson, and Rowan counties.
Upstart candidate McDowell led all voters with about 26% of the vote in the Republican primary, but he failed to secure 30% of the votes. That means the second-place finisher is allowed to request a run-off.
McDowell worked on Sen. Ted Bud’s campaign and worked as a lobbyist for Blue Cross, Blue Shield. He had a huge boost from an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
Former Congressman Mark Walker, who represented District 6 from 2014 to 2020, came in second with about 24% and vowed to continue to compete in the May runoff. Tuesday night, he touted his past record as congressman and said he wants to continue to do the work he started years ago.
The runoff election date is set for May 14.
Contact Richard DeVayne at rdevayne@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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