Raymond Smith Jr., a Democrat and Army veteran who represented the 21st district in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 2019 to 2023, faces Republican incumbent Greg Murphy for North Carolina's 3rd congressional district in 2026.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
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Biography & Campaign Analysis
Career
Raymond Smith Jr. served in the United States Army during the Persian Gulf War. He later worked in local and state government and served on the Wayne County Board of Education.
Smith won election to the North Carolina House of Representatives for the 21st district on November 6, 2018, as the Democratic nominee, taking 53% of the vote to Republican Robert Freeman Sr.'s 47%. He was re-elected in 2020 and served in the House from 2019 to 2023.
During the 2019 to 2020 session his committee assignments included Appropriations, Transportation, and Homeland Security, Military, and Veterans Affairs, and in the 2021 to 2022 session they included Finance, Local Government, and Education (Community Colleges).
In 2022, Smith challenged incumbent state senator Toby Fitch in the Democratic primary for North Carolina's 4th Senate district and lost, winning 45.5% of the vote to Fitch's 54.5%. He was the Democratic nominee for the same Senate district in 2024.
2026 race
Raymond Smith Jr. is running in North Carolina's 3rd congressional district, which was redrawn on October 22, 2025, and now includes all of Duplin, Greene, Lenoir, Jones, Onslow, Pitt, Wayne, and Wilson counties and most of Sampson County.
In the Democratic primary he defeated Allison Jaslow, a non-profit executive and veteran, by 23,552 votes (56.7%) to 18,020 (43.3%).
In the general election on November 3, 2026, Smith faces Republican incumbent Greg Murphy, who was re-elected in 2024 with 77.4% of the vote, and Libertarian Daniel Cavender, a technician.