Democrat Deborah Ross wins open seat in North Carolina, flipping seat

Democrat Deborah Ross is projected to win her bid for Congress on Tuesday, flipping the Republican-held seat blue.

The Associated Press called the race at 10:17 p.m. EST.

Ross, a civil rights lawyer and former state representative, will represent North Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District. Court-mandated redistricting shifted the district more Democratic in November 2019.

Ross told The Hill she was feeling “pumped up” on Tuesday morning while greeting volunteers in Raleigh.

“I’ve seen much more enthusiasm among the young voters than I’ve seen in a really long time,” she said. “I think they’re motivated because they see their future on the line. I think they’ve been energized by a lot of this summer’s racial injustice activity and I think they know that they can make a difference.”

The seat is currently held by Rep. George Holding (R-N.C.), who announced his retirement in December following the redistricting. He was first elected in 2012.

“I’m a lawyer and I’ve gotten a couple of emails from some Republican lawyers saying that they were proud to cast a vote for me. So, I’m very optimistic that I’m going to be a real consensus builder, be able to bring people together, and represent this entire county and the state really well in Congress,” Ross said on Tuesday.

Ross ran on affordable health care, climate change, education access, and building on her work as an attorney and state legislator for expanding voting rights and anti-racial profiling, among other issues.