2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

North Carolina Senate District 47

2 candidates, listed alphabetically.

Candidates

Ralph Hise

RepublicanIncumbent

In office now
State Senator, District 47
Work
Statistician; expert-in-residence, UNC Asheville Health Policy Institute; state senator

Ralph Hise is the sitting State Senator for District 47 in the North Carolina General Assembly; the member page lists 8 terms in the Senate.

Ralph Hise is a statistician and expert-in-residence at the Health Policy Institute at UNC Asheville, with degrees from Appalachian State and NC State. Ralph Hise is serving his sixth term in the North Carolina Senate.

Hise's committees

  • Appropriations/Base Budget (Chairman)
  • Elections (Chairman)
  • Finance
  • Health Care
  • Pensions and Retirement and Aging
  • Rules and Operations of the Senate
  • Select Committee on Nominations
  • Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations (Ex Officio)
  • Legislative Research Commission
  • Legislative Services Commission
  • Revenue Laws Study Committee
  • Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Information Technology (Co-Chair)
  • Joint Legislative Elections Oversight Committee
  • Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services
  • Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid
  • Governmental Operations, Subcommittee on Hurricane Response and Recovery

Sources for Hise

Frank Patton Hughes III

Democratic

Work
Social studies teacher, McDowell High School

Frank Patton Hughes III teaches social studies at McDowell High School and previously was a lead social studies teacher at Philo Hill Middle School in Winston-Salem. Frank Patton Hughes III has also worked as a landscape nurseryman and car mechanic and holds a degree from Appalachian State University.

Sources for Hughes

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.