WILMINGTON — Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) officially announced his campaign for re-election to the North Carolina Senate.
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Lee, who holds the position of Senate Majority Leader, is seeking to retain his District 7 seat. The district — which covers most of New Hanover County — is consistently a major battleground in the state, drawing millions of dollars in outside spending each election cycle. Lee won the 2024 election with 52% of the vote against Democratic challenger David Hill, who secured 43%.
In a Monday press release, Lee pledged to focus and continue delivering results on public safety, education, coastal resilience, and economic growth.
“New Hanover County is my home, and my mission is simple: keep our families safe, keep our economy growing, and keep our coast strong,” Lee stated in the release.
First elected to the Senate in 2014, Lee served until 2018, when he lost to former Wilmington Mayor Harper Peterson. Lee took back the seat in the 2020 election and has won ever since.
In April 2025, he was appointed by the Senate Republican Caucus as the Senate Majority Leader — meaning is the party’s chief legislative strategist and agenda-setter. Lee also has chaired both the Appropriations Committee and the Education Committee during his stint as a Senator.
His legislative record includes sponsoring major policy initiatives, such as the widely discussed Parents’ Bill of Rights in 2023, which prohibits instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality in grades K-4 and requires schools to notify parents if a student requests to use a different name or pronoun. This year Lee sponsored the 2025 Water Safety Act, which directs state regulators to set discharge limits for industrial PFAS and fund mitigation efforts to protect local drinking water.
Should Lee face any other Republican challengers, there will be a primary election held statewide on March 3, 2026. Candidate filing for the 2026 general election opens Monday, Dec. 1, and ends at noon on Friday, Dec. 19.
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