Two years after winning her state Senate seat by 209 votes, Sen. Woodson Bradley won it again on Tuesday by more than 17,000 votes. In a state House district inside hers, Democrat Ken McCool unseated Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Republican.
Bradley, a Democrat finishing her first term, again faced Republican Stacie McGinn, a retired lawyer and former Bank of America executive, in a rematch for Senate District 42. The district covers south and east Charlotte, all of Matthews and nearly all of Mint Hill.
Bradley received 57,203 votes to McGinn's 39,941, or 58.9 percent, according to the State Board of Elections' unofficial count. In 2024, she beat McGinn 62,260 to 62,051.
McCool beat Cotham 24,608 to 18,479, or 57.1 percent, in House District 105. All 18 of its precincts sit inside Bradley's Senate district; their voters use polling places from Olde Providence Elementary on Rea Road to Mint Hill Town Hall.
The count is unofficial until the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections completes its canvass, the formal check that the votes were counted and tabulated correctly, on Friday, Nov. 13.
Bradley had argued during the campaign that North Carolina is a 50/50 state and its legislature should be more evenly divided.