Democrats and Republicans have nominated members for a reconstituted North Carolina elections board tasked with resolving the nation’s last undecided congressional election.

The new board will decide if Republican Mark Harris won the 9th Congressional District race in November or could order a new election because of absentee ballot irregularities in the district. Harris leads Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes.

The state parties’ leaders this week each provided four board nominees to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who makes appointments from those slates. There will be three Democrats and two Republicans on the board.

A new law created the five-member board, which begins Jan. 31. It succeeds a nine-member board that was struck down by a court as unconstitutional and ceased to exist in late December.

Missing from the Democrats’ nominees is Josh Malcolm, the chairman of the previous board. Malcolm said Thursday he decided it was best for the board and for him that he not serve. Malcolm was vice chairman in November when he made the motion not to certify 9th District results, citing the investigation. The Republican Party has been criticizing Malcolm since.

“I think I’ve done good work on the state board of elections and positioned them well to protect the ballot box,” Malcolm told The Charlotte Observer. He didn’t return a phone message Thursday from The Associated Press.

The Democrats’ slate of nominees includes previous members of the recent nine-member board in Stella Anderson, Bob Cordle and Valerie Johnson, along with former Wake County election board member Greg Flynn.

Republicans offered previous board member Stacy “Four” Eggers, along with Buck Newton, Francis De Luca and Eddie Woodhouse. Woodhouse also previously served on the Wake County board. Newton was the Republicans’ 2016 nominee for attorney general. De Luca used to lead the conservative-leaning Civitas Institute in Raleigh.

The state Democratic Party questioned Thursday whether the nominations of three Republicans — all but Eggers — complied with new state laws limiting some recent political activity by board members. State GOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse wrote in a text he believed all four met the law’s requirement. The Woodhouses are cousins.

Cooper is reviewing the nominees and their eligibility, spokesman Ford Porter said.

A state judge this week refused to certify Harris the winner without a board present, saying the new board was best positioned to decide on the outcome. No date has been set on any investigatory hearing by the new board to consider evidence and question witnesses.

Related Stories
‹
Corporate Tax Cuts, Prediction Market Leeway, and Underfunding Education: Why Orange County's Legislators Voted Against NC's Budget
All three of Orange County’s state representatives voted against North Carolina's updated budget, citing issues with its contents and construction.
On the Porch: Dr. James Wood - Sports Around the World
This Week: James Wood is currently Professor of Latin American and modern world history at North Carolina A&T State University. He is the author of The Society of Equality: Popular Republicanism and Democracy in Santiago de Chile, 1818-1851 and the co-editor of "Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations", now in its fifth edition with Rowman and Littlefield. As a Fulbright scholar for Chile in 2016 he was a visiting professor at the Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago (where he observed Chilean student activism up close).
On the Porch: Bill Brown - Art and Science Merge at NCMA
This Week: Bill Brown joined the North Carolina Museum of Art as a Conservation Intern in 1988. Thirty-two years later he retired from the Art Museum as Chief Conservator.  He received his M.A. and Certificate of Advanced Studies in Conservation from State University College at Buffalo, NY in 1989. At the Museum, he established the Art + Science Initiative, a collaborative program with Duke University math and science departments. Bill has a passion for Italian Old Master Paintings of the 14th to 18th century. He works part-time as a conservator in private practice and provides conservation support for the Museum and Gallery collection of old master paintings at Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC . He enjoys retirement with his wife and young adult son.
On the Porch: Nora Gaskin - Conjuring Crime Stories
This Week: Author Nora Gaskin is a lifelong resident of the Durham-Chapel Hill area. Her latest is novel is "Lammie Loves Cubby". Nora has a bachelor’s degree in English with Honors in Creative Writing from UNC, and a Masters in English from the University of Washington in Seattle. She spent over 24 years as a stockbroker and financial advisor in the Durham office of a major investment firm. She retired in 2005 to focus on writing. She is the publisher at Lystra Books and Literary Services and the author of three novels and one nonfiction book. She lives and writes in Chatham County, inspired by her native landscape, her husband, and dogs. Her favorite word is "gratitude."
Therapy Smarts and Sen. Natalie Murdock on How HB696 Impacts Children and Families — On Air Today (June 15, 2026)
Founder and CEO of Therapy Smarts Avani Shah and N.C. District 20 Sen. Natalie Murdock speak with 97.9 The Hill on Monday, June 15.
On the Porch: Steven Fenberg - What Funded America's Infrastructure?
This Week: Writer Steven Fenberg discovered Jesse Jones was reputedly the most powerful person in the nation next to President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression and World War II. As chairman of the federal government’s Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)—the nation’s indispensable infrastructure bank—Jones initiated and managed massive New Deal agencies that saved and expanded the nation’s economy and then shifted the RFC’s priority from domestic economics to global defense to fight and win WWII. Fenberg told this remarkable story as executive producer and co-writer of the Emmy Award winning documentary film “Brother, Can You Spare a Billion?” that was narrated by Walter Cronkite and broadcast nationally on PBS. Fenberg then wrote the biography “Unprecedented Power: Jesse Jones, Capitalism, and the Common Good.”
Viewpoints: Constitutional Changes Are Rarely Necessary
Constitutional amendments are supposed to be rare. They are supposed to matter. They are meant to alter foundational principles or governmental structure when absolutely necessary. 
On the Porch: Terri Mitchell - Mentoring Women in Tech
This Week: Terri Mitchell is the founder of Accelerate Success, a program to help women develop the confidence, skills, and networks needed to thrive in STEM careers. She is a former IBM executive with more than 30 years of experience in the technology industry. Starting as a graduate of Le Moyne College with a degree in Computer Science, she held leadership roles across hardware, software, and systems businesses, culminating in her role as Vice President and IBM Integration Executive. Following her retirement from IBM in 2018, Terri became a founding member of Triangle Women in STEM and began the Accelerate Success program.
On the Porch: Carl Nordgren - Creativity Can Unite US
This Week: Carl Nordgren is a best-selling novelist, a teacher, and an imaginal cell. After 25 years as an entrepreneur, he taught Creativity at Duke for 14 years. He’s a two-time TEDx speaker and hosts the weekly radio show ‘Exploring your Creative Genius’ on 97.9 The Hill. His calling is to help each of us and all of us grow our creative capacities and develop our entrepreneurial instincts and behaviors, a calling that informed his book "Becoming a Creative Genius (again)". His new book, "Common Ground for US" continues that work and offers new perspectives on governance and policy making for political and community leaders. You can attend his book launch event at Golden Fig Books in Carrboro on June 4, by clicking the show title above.
On the Porch: Tiffany Muller - End Citizens United
This Week: Tiffany Muller is the President of End Citizens United. She has helped grow the group into a nationwide organization with more than 4 million members and 1 million grassroots donors. Before leading End Citizens United, Tiffany was Deputy Political Director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, where she worked with top Senate races. She also served as chief of staff to two members of Congress, ran a political research firm, and was Vice President of Political Operations at the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. As a member of the Topeka City Council, she led successful efforts to expand anti-discrimination protections. 
›