This is part of our series looking at North Carolina’s registered voters. Other stories include an in-depth look at North Carolina’s Democrat voters and an in-depth look at North Carolina’s unaffiliated voters.
As of October 25th, 2026, North Carolina had 7.8 million registered voters. Of these, 2,330,371 million, or 30%, were registered as a Republican.
Younger voters are the least likely to register as Republican and display a higher affinity for registering unaffiliated. Just 21% of voters ages 18-25 are registered Republican compared to 23% of 26-40 year-olds, 32% of 41-65 year-olds, and 36% of voters ages 66 and older.
As a result, older adults, especially those ages 66 and older, comprise a larger share of Republican voters than the overall electorate — 24% of all voters are aged 66+ compared to the 30% of registered Republican voters. Republican voters ages 26-40 and 18-25 comprise a smaller share of the Republican party than the general electorate.
By contrast, voter ages 41-65 comprise of a slightly larger share of the Republican party than the overall electorate. This is a change from the 2024 election cycle where voters ages 41-65 compromised a smaller share of the Republican party than the overall electorate.
Reflecting this age structure, 22% of North Carolina Republican voters first registered to vote before 2000. An additional 15% of Republican voters registered in the 2000s, 24% in the 2010s, and 40% in the 2020s.
North Carolina’s registered Republicans are overwhelmingly white. Eighty-seven percent of Republican voters are white compared to 63% of the overall electorate.
White voters are significantly more likely to register Republican (41%) than other groups. Twenty-six percent of American Indian voters, 17% of Asian voters, 16% of Hispanic voters, and 3% of Black voters are registered Republican in North Carolina.
North Carolina voters born in a Southern or Midwestern state are generally the most likely to be registered as Republican. Forty-two percent of West Virginia-born voters are registered Republican, followed by South Dakota (40%) ,and Kentucky (37%).
Just over 923,130 Republican voters — 40% of the state’s Republican voter population — were born in North Carolina. New York (104,235), Virginia (70,422), Pennsylvania (60,296), and Florida (53,809) were the next most common birthplaces outside of North Carolina. Another 22% (518,400) of Republican voters opted not to share their place of birth.
Registered Republican voters born in the south make up 54% of registered Republicans. When excluding North Carolina-born voters, this percentage falls to 15%. The second most likely place for Republican voters to be born is the Northeast at 11% followed by the Midwest at 7%.
Across North Carolina’s 100 counties, the county share of Republican voters varies widely, reflecting county differences composition by age, race/ethnicity, and place of birth.
Fifty-seven percent of active voters in Yadkin , Mitchell and Avery country were registered Republican, the highest rates statewide. Mitchell County also had the lowest rate of registered Democratic voters (8%). Over half of registered voters were registered Republican in eight other counties: Wilkes, Stokes, Cherokee, Graham and Randolf.
By contrast, less than fifteen percent of voters are registered Republican in Halifax, Bertie, Northampton, Orange, Hertford, and Durham counties.
Note: Analysis presented is of the 10/25/2026 voter registration file from NC’s State Board of Elections. Analysis is limited to individuals who are active, inactive, or temporary registered voters. Voters with a reported birth age of older than 100 years were excluded from the age analysis.
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