NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – The balance of power on the New Hanover County Board of Education will be decided when voters go to the polls in the 2026 November Midterm Election.
There are four seats on the ballot in this election cycle, and all four are currently held by republicans. Two of those incumbents, Josie Barnhart and Pat Bradford, are running for reelection. Both won their first terms in 2022. The other two seats are currently held by Pete Wildeboer, who chose not to seek another term, and Melissa Mason, who lost her seat in the republican primary election. Their absence means there will be at least two new members of the board after this election. The newly-elected members will join democrats Judy Justice and Tim Merrick, along with David Perry, who ran as a republican when he won a seat in 2024 but has since switched to the libertarian party.
The other two republicans in the race are first-time candidates Amy Dunning and Chris Sutton.
Three of the four democrats on the ballot are first-time candidates Wendy Dale, Margie Gewirtzman and Britnei LaRue. Jerry Jones, the fourth democrat in the field, ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the school board in 2024. The county democratic party backed the slate of Gewirtzman, Jones and LaRue leading up to the election.
Republicans must sweep all four seats in November to maintain the party’s current majority. Democrats would even the board by winning one of the four seats, and could take the majority by winning two seats.
You can click on each candidate’s name to learn more about them and where they stand on the most important issues.
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