Mark Harris
Mark Harris, a Republican Baptist pastor who has represented North Carolina's 8th congressional district since 2025, seeks re-election in 2026 against Democrat Colby Watson, a federal contractor, and Green Party nominee Bo Whitehead.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Mark Harris.
- Born
- April 24, 1966
- Birthplace
- Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Education
- Richard J. Reynolds High School
Appalachian State University (bachelor's degree in political science)
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity; Doctor of Ministry)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Mark Harris was born Mark Everette Harris in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on April 24, 1966, and graduated from Richard J. Reynolds High School there. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Appalachian State University and both a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Career
Mark Harris served as senior pastor of Curtis Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia, from January 1, 2000, to July 2005, and later as senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Charlotte and president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.
Since February 2020 he has preached at Trinity Baptist Church in Mooresville, North Carolina, where he is lead pastor.
Harris placed third in the 2014 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate behind Thom Tillis and Greg Brannon, and in 2016 he lost the Republican primary for the 9th congressional district to incumbent Robert Pittenger, who was certified the winner by 134 votes after a recount.
Harris defeated Pittenger in the 2018 primary and led Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes after the November 6, 2018, general election.
The North Carolina Board of Elections declined to certify the result amid allegations of ballot fraud involving McCrae Dowless, a Republican operative employed by the Harris campaign, and on February 21, 2019, it ordered a new election.
Citing ill health, Harris announced on February 26, 2019, that he would stay out of the new race, which Republican Dan Bishop won.
When Bishop ran for attorney general of North Carolina in 2024, Harris won the 8th district Republican nomination on March 5, 2024, with just over 30% of the vote and defeated Democrat Justin Dues in November.
He was sworn in on January 3, 2025, and serves on the Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Education and Workforce, and the Committee on the Judiciary.
2026 race
The 8th district includes all of Anson, Montgomery, Richmond, Scotland, Stanly, and Union counties, most of Cabarrus and Robeson counties, and portions of southern Mecklenburg County.
Mark Harris, the Republican incumbent, was elected there in 2024 with 59.6% of the vote and is again the Republican nominee after Brianna Prince was disqualified from the primary.
In the general election on November 3, 2026, Harris faces Democrat Colby Watson, a federal contractor who won the Democratic primary with 47.9% of the vote, and Green Party nominee Bo Whitehead, a blue collar worker.