Scrutinel— 2026 midterms

UpdatedOct 10, 2026, 11:27 AM EDT
To election day24 days
Simulations200,000

North Carolina 7th District

Currently held by a Republican · incumbent running · district redrawn for 2026

Democrat
Kimberly Hardy
22%
Republican
David Rouzer
78%
ForecastLean R
Projected margin
R+6.8
80% range
R+18.4 to D+4.7
Partisan lean
R+13.0
Tipping-point chance
0.46%
Uncertainty multiplier
1.80×

The 80% range comes from 200,000 simulations in which this race’s error is correlated with every other race through the national, state and demographic layers.

How the estimate is built
Fundamentals >99.9%
Polling average
no polls
Fundamentals
R+6.6
Blended
R+6.6
Similar-race shift
+1.8
Polling

No public polling of this matchup. The forecast rests on fundamentals plus the polling residuals of demographically and politically similar races — which is the normal case: most of the 435 House seats are never polled.

Fundamentals
Partisan lean
R+13.0
Elasticity
0.94
Incumbency
−1.9
Candidate experience
0.0
Fundraising
−1.5
National environment
D+7.1
Expected margin
R+8.4
How it voted for presidenttwo-party
2024 margin
R+14.0
2020 margin
R+11.2
Shift 2020 → 2024
R+2.9
Votes cast, 2024
443,202

Presidential results reaggregated onto the 2026 district lines. This is where the seat’s partisan lean comes from, and it carries most of the forecast in a race nobody has polled.

Who lives hereCensus ACS
Population
593,673
Median age
51.3
Median household income
$63,200
Bachelor’s degree or higher
31%
White
68%
Black
20%
Hispanic
7%
Asian
2%

Used to find demographically similar districts, so a race with no polling can borrow the polling error of races that look like it.

Campaign fundraisingFEC filings to Invalid Date
CandidatePartyRaisedCash on hand
David RouzerREP$2.0M$2.3M
Kimberly Dr. HardyDEM$376k$25k

Receipts across the cycle, from FEC bulk filings. The model uses the ratio between the two sides rather than either total, and weights it lightly — money follows a competitive race at least as much as it causes one.

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