Danny Edward Davis

Current office and 2026 campaign

Danny E. Davis is the Democratic candidate for North Carolina House District 118 in the November 3, 2026 general election ¹. The district is made up of Haywood and Madison counties ². Davis, of Waynesville, filed on December 1, 2025 and drew no Democratic primary opponent, advancing directly to the general election ¹².

His Republican opponent is James M. "Jimmy" Rogers of Clyde, a longtime Haywood County school board member who unseated incumbent Rep. Mark Pless in the March 3, 2026 Republican primary, 4,965 votes to 4,110 ¹³⁶.

Davis announced his candidacy in November 2025. In the announcement release he said the district's "standard of living has been eroded over the last couple of decades because pro-wealth policies have led to stagnated wages while the cost of housing, healthcare, rent, child care and education have skyrocketed," and, referring to Hurricane Helene, that "this is a time to advance and do the right thing for the people of our district and our state, and I will fight and be a voice for those who have been left behind" ². After the primary he told The Smoky Mountain News: "Democrats have kind of lost their way, in my opinion, and I'm pulling it back to where it needs to be. We've got to be for things, not just against things" ³.

The Smoky Mountain News described District 118 as consistently Republican territory, reporting that Haywood County backed Donald Trump at a 62% clip in each of his three presidential campaigns and that Madison County backed him with 60% in 2016 and 61% in both 2020 and 2024 ³.

Background and education

Davis is a Haywood County native who graduated from Tuscola High School and Western Carolina University before earning a law degree from Campbell ². His campaign biography says he was "raised here, in Western North Carolina, by a family of working people and learned the value of hard work early; stocking warehouses, cleaning buildings, and working trade jobs before becoming an attorney" ⁴.

Career

Davis served as an assistant district attorney before joining the district court bench ².

Sources differ on the length of his judicial service. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina's certified-mediator roster describes him as an "N.C. District Court Judge 30th Judicial District" with "over 26 years presiding over civil contract disputes, real property disputes, personal injury, wrongful termination cases" ⁵. The Smoky Mountain News reported in November 2025 that he spent 27 years as a district court judge ². His 2026 campaign site states "33 Years District Court Judge" and "Former Chief Judge" ⁴.

The federal roster also lists him as "Assoc. Judge and Supreme Court Justice for Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians" and records his North Carolina mediator certification date as January 18, 2011 ⁵. Since leaving the bench, apart from brief stints as an emergency judge, he has worked as a court mediator ².

Office history

Davis has run for office twice before. In the May 8, 2012 Democratic primary for North Carolina House District 119 he lost to Joe Sam Queen by 18 votes, 4,993 to 4,975 in certified returns ⁷. In 2018 he ran for the Haywood County Board of Commissioners and was not elected, finishing fifth in a six-candidate field with 10,916 votes ⁸.

Davis served on the Haywood County Board of Elections, including six years as its chairman ³⁴. After the General Assembly moved county elections-board appointments from the governor to the state auditor, every county board in the state was disbanded and reconstituted; The Mountaineer reported that Davis was one of four returning members sworn in to the reconstituted Haywood board on July 22, 2025, with Republican Elizabeth Norris named chairperson ⁹. He later resigned from the board to run for the General Assembly ³.

Sources