2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

North Carolina Senate District 44

2 candidates, listed alphabetically.

Candidates

Ted Alexander

RepublicanIncumbent

In office now
State Senator, District 44
Work
State senator since 2019; former mayor of Shelby

Ted Alexander is the sitting State Senator for District 44 in the North Carolina General Assembly, a district that includes all or part of Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties; the member page lists 4 terms in the Senate.

Ted Alexander has worked as executive director of several Main Street revitalization programs in Virginia and as Virginia's state Main Street director. Ted Alexander was mayor of Shelby (2004-2011) and was first elected to the North Carolina Senate in 2018; he holds a master's degree in historic preservation from Cornell University.

Alexander's committees

  • Appropriations on General Government and Information Technology (Chairman)
  • Appropriations/Base Budget
  • Commerce and Insurance
  • Elections
  • Finance
  • Pensions and Retirement and Aging (Chairman)
  • Select Committee on Property Tax Reform
  • State and Local Government (Chairman)
  • Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations
  • Municipal Incorporations Subcommittee of the Joint Legislative Committee on Local Government
  • Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Information Technology
  • Joint Legislative Economic Development and Global Engagement Oversight Committee
  • Joint Legislative Committee on Local Government (Co-Chair)
  • Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on General Government

Sources for Alexander

Rod Powell

Democratic

Work
Retired teacher (Mooresville and Lincoln County schools)

Rod Powell taught at Mooresville High School and in Lincoln County schools and also worked in office equipment sales. Rod Powell holds a master's degree in education from Lenoir-Rhyne University and ran for the Cleveland County Board of Education in 2024.

Sources for Powell

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.