James Gailliard

James Gailliard is a pastor from Rocky Mount running this November to flip a seat in one of the most competitive districts in the North Carolina Senate. As a former member of the North Carolina House, James brings his leadership and experience working on behalf of his community to his campaign and is ready to fight on behalf of his constituents for access to affordable health care, strong public schools, and a lower cost of living.

In 2024, DLCC Target candidate James Mercer came within a few percentage points of unseating this district’s entrenched Republican incumbent. Now, James Gailliard is ready to carry on the fight to add a new Democratic seat to the North Carolina Senate.

North Carolina is one of the most heavily gerrymandered states in the country, which has allowed an increasingly out-of-touch Republican legislative majority to cling to power for more than a decade, even as Democrats have won elections statewide. In this political environment, we have an opportunity to overcome this gerrymander and grow Democratic power we have not seen before. 

In the 2024 elections, Democrats pulled off a major victory by breaking the GOP supermajority in the state House, giving them the power to protect newly elected Governor Josh Stein’s veto authority. Now, 2026 presents a historic opportunity to build as much Democratic power as possible in this once-in-a-generation election environment. 

Democrats in the North Carolina Senate are just one seat away from breaking the GOP supermajority in their chamber, and Democratic candidates in the House are fighting for every single race to flip as many seats as possible. With competitive races for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House alongside these legislative races,  the DLCC is all hands on deck to support the strong campaigns and infrastructure needed to reach voters and win seats in both chambers in November.