North Carolina's 3rd House district

Not to be confused with North Carolina's 3rd congressional district.

North Carolina's 3rd State House of Representatives district
Representative	Steve Tyson R–New Bern
Demographics	66% White 20% Black 7% Hispanic 3% Asian 1% Other 3% Multiracial
Population (2020)	87,103

North Carolina's 3rd House district is one of 120 districts in the North Carolina House of Representatives. It has been represented by Republican Steve Tyson since 2021.^[1]

Geography

Since 2019, the district has included part of Craven County. The district overlaps with the 3rd Senate district.

District officeholders since 1993

Representative	Party	Dates	Notes	Counties
John Nichols (New Bern)	Republican	January 1, 1993 – January 1, 1999	Lost re-election.	1993–2003 Parts of Craven and Pamlico counties.[2]
Scott Thomas (New Bern)	Democratic	January 1, 1999 – January 1, 2001	Retired to run for State Senate.
Alice Graham Underhill (New Bern)	Democratic	January 1, 2001 – January 1, 2003	Lost re-election.
Michael Gorman (Trent Woods)	Republican	January 1, 2003 – January 1, 2005	Lost re-nomination.	2003–2013 All of Pamlico County. Part of Craven County.[3][4]
Alice Graham Underhill (New Bern)	Democratic	January 1, 2005 – January 1, 2011	Lost re-election.
Norman Sanderson (Minnesott Beach)	Republican	January 1, 2011 – January 1, 2013	Retired to run for State Senate.
Michael Speciale (New Bern)	Republican	January 1, 2013 – January 1, 2021	Retired.	2013–2019 All of Pamlico County. Parts of Craven and Beaufort counties.[5]
				2019–Present Part of Craven County.[6][7][8][9]
Steve Tyson (New Bern)	Republican	January 1, 2021 – Present

Election results

2024

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district Democratic primary election, 2024^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Linda Moore	1,948	38.56%
	Democratic	Dorothea Downing White	1,820	36.03%
	Democratic	Cynthia Evans-Robinson	1,284	25.42%
Total votes			5,052	100%

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2024^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Tyson (incumbent)	29,825	61.68%
	Democratic	Linda Moore	18,530	38.32%
Total votes			48,355	100%
	Republican hold

2022

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2022^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Tyson (incumbent)	23,739	100%
Total votes			23,739	100%
	Republican hold

2020

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district Republican Primary election, 2020^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Tyson	4,445	52.58%
	Republican	Jim Kohr	1,783	21.09%
	Republican	Eric Queen	1,474	17.44%
	Republican	Guy D. Smith	751	8.88%
Total votes			8,453	100%

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2020^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Tyson	22,585	60.78%
	Democratic	Dorothea Downing White	14,575	39.22%
Total votes			37,160	100%
	Republican hold

2018

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district Democratic primary election, 2018^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Barbara Lee	2,451	67.65%
	Democratic	Charles Dudley	1,172	32.35%
Total votes			3,623	100%

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district Republican primary election, 2018^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Speciale (incumbent)	2,947	57.25%
	Republican	Eric Queen	2,201	42.75%
Total votes			5,148	100%

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2018^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Speciale (incumbent)	14,068	54.90%
	Democratic	Barbara Lee	10,874	42.44%
	Libertarian	T. Lee Horne III	683	2.67%
Total votes			25,625	100%
	Republican hold

2016

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2016^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Speciale (incumbent)	23,273	64.81%
	Democratic	Marva Fisher Baldwin	12,638	35.19%
Total votes			35,911	100%
	Republican hold

2014

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2014^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Speciale (incumbent)	14,584	58.09%
	Democratic	Whit Whitley	10,524	41.91%
Total votes			25,108	100%
	Republican hold

2012

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district Republican primary election, 2012^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Speciale	4,090	58.45%
	Republican	Wayne Langston	1,613	23.05%
	Republican	Clayton Tripp	1,294	18.49%
Total votes			6,997	100%

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2012^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Speciale	20,811	59.24%
	Democratic	Robert B. Clayton	14,320	40.76%
Total votes			35,131	100%
	Republican hold

2010

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2010^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Norman Sanderson	14,620	63.69%
	Democratic	Alice Graham Underhill (incumbent)	7,859	34.24%
	Libertarian	Herb Sobel	477	2.08%
Total votes			22,956	100%
	Republican gain from Democratic

2008

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district Republican primary election, 2008^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Norman Sanderson	2,708	57.20%
	Republican	Renee Sisk	2,026	42.80%
Total votes			4,734	100%

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2008^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alice Graham Underhill (incumbent)	16,943	49.92%
	Republican	Norman Sanderson	16,173	47.65%
	Libertarian	Herb Sobel	825	2.43%
Total votes			33,941	100%
	Democratic hold

2006

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district Republican primary election, 2006^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Speciale	1,384	63.54%
	Republican	Michael Gorman	794	36.46%
Total votes			2,178	100%

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2006^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alice Graham Underhill (incumbent)	10,772	55.70%
	Republican	Michael Speciale	8,568	44.30%
Total votes			19,340	100%
	Democratic hold

2004

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district Republican primary election, 2004^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Speciale	1,559	44.67%
	Republican	Michael Gorman (incumbent)	1,334	38.22%
	Republican	John M. Nichols	453	12.98%
	Republican	Kirby R. Braxton	144	4.13%
Total votes			3,490	100%

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2004^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alice Graham Underhill	15,156	51.18%
	Republican	Michael Speciale	13,947	47.10%
	Libertarian	Herbert M. Sobel	509	1.72%
Total votes			29,612	100%
	Democratic gain from Republican

2002

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district Republican primary election, 2002^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Gorman	2,388	55.25%
	Republican	Joyce Hill King	1,028	23.79%
	Republican	Michael Speciale	906	20.96%
Total votes			4,322	100%

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2002^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Gorman	10,777	50.43%
	Democratic	Alice Graham Underhill (incumbent)	10,594	49.57%
Total votes			21,371	100%
	Republican gain from Democratic

2000

North Carolina House of Representatives 3rd district general election, 2000^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alice Graham Underhill	10,329	46.18%
	Republican	John M. Nichols	9,099	40.68%
	Independent	Bill Harper	2,937	13.13%
Total votes			22,365	100%
	Democratic hold

References

1. "State House District 3, NC". Census Reporter. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
2. "1992 House Base Plan 5" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
3. "Interim House Redistricting Plan For N.C. 2002 Election" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
4. "House Redistricting Plan" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
5. "Lewis-Dollar-Dockham 4" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
6. "2018 House Election Districts" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
7. "HB 1020, 2nd Edition - 2019 House Remedial Map" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
8. "S.L. 2022-4 House" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
9. "SS.L. 2023-149 House" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
10. [1] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
11. [2] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
12. [3] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
13. [4] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
14. [5] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
15. [6] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
16. [7] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
17. [8] North Carolina State Board Of Elections.
18. [9] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
19. [10] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
20. [11] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
21. [12] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
22. [13] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
23. [14] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
24. [15] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
25. [16] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
26. [17] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
27. [18] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
28. [19] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
29. [20] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
30. [21] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
31. "NC State House 003". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 4, 2022.