2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

North Carolina Senate District 1

2 candidates, listed alphabetically.

Candidates

Jerry Tillett

RepublicanIncumbent

In office now
State Senator, District 1
Work
Superior Court judge (District 1); law school faculty

Jerry Tillett is the sitting State Senator for District 1 in the North Carolina General Assembly.

Jerry Tillett has been a North Carolina Superior Court judge in District 1 since 1993 and teaches at High Point University's law school and as a lecturing fellow at Regent Law School. Jerry Tillett was earlier a law partner and chief of staff and chief legal counsel to the state Senate president pro tempore, and holds a law degree from Wake Forest University.

Tillett's committees

  • Senator Jerry Tillett is not currently assigned to any standing or select committees (Non-Standing Committees)

Sources for Tillett

Melissa Zehner

Democratic

Work
Owner, Melissa Zehner Creative and The Zehner Collective (Outer Banks); former Minor League Baseball manager

Melissa Zehner owns the businesses Melissa Zehner Creative and The Zehner Collective and earlier held management positions in Minor League Baseball. Melissa Zehner ran for an at-large seat on the Dare County Board of Education in 2024 and holds a communications degree from Randolph-Macon Woman's College.

Sources for Zehner

Sources

Candidate list and race details

What's included
U.S. Senate and House, statewide offices, every state legislative district on the ballot and statewide ballot measures.
Everything else
Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: vt.ncsbe.gov.
Candidate lists
As of Wednesday, October 14, 2026.

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.