Eldon Sharpe Newton III

Current office and 2026 campaign

Eldon Sharpe "Buck" Newton III is the Republican member of the North Carolina Senate for District 4, which covers Greene, Wayne and Wilson counties ². He filed for re-election on December 1, 2025 and appears on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot; the contest drew no primary, and his general-election opponent is Democrat Jessica (Jess) Rivera of Wilson ¹. The General Assembly records him as serving his fifth term in the Senate, with no service in the House ². In the 2024 general election he was re-elected with 55,389 votes to Democrat Raymond Smith, Jr.'s 45,096 ⁷.

Background and education

Newton is a native of Wilson and graduated from Hunt High School before attending Appalachian State University, where he received a bachelor's degree in political science ⁵⁶. He earned his law degree at Campbell University School of Law ⁵⁶.

Career

Newton has practiced law at his firm, Newton and Lee, for more than 20 years ⁵⁶. His campaign biography describes him as "a country lawyer and a strong conservative leader currently serving in the North Carolina Senate" ⁶.

Office history

Newton was first elected to the state Senate in 2010; the North Carolina Republican Senate Caucus states that he "served in the State Senate from 2011 to 2016" and that in 2010 he "was in a group of conservative Republicans who flipped the NC Senate red for the first time in 140 years" ⁵. In 2016 he was the Republican nominee for North Carolina Attorney General, losing to Democrat Josh Stein 2,303,619 votes to 2,279,006 ⁵⁹. He returned to the Senate by winning District 4 in the 2022 general election, defeating Democrat Milton F. (Toby) Fitch 38,638 to 28,543 ⁸.

Legislative record and accomplishments

In the 2025-2026 session Newton chairs the Senate committees on Appropriations on Justice and Public Safety, Finance, and Judiciary, and sits as a member of the committees on Agriculture, Energy, and Environment; Education/Higher Education; and Transportation ³. Among non-standing committees he is Vice Chair of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety and of the Joint Legislative Commission on Energy Policy, Co-Chair of the Governmental Operations Subcommittee on Prisons, and a member of the Legislative Ethics Committee, the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee and the Joint Legislative Emergency Management Oversight Committee ³.

The General Assembly's record of his introduced bills for the session lists him as a primary sponsor of measures that were enacted into session law, including SB 153, the North Carolina Border Protection Act (S.L. 2026-19); SB 429, the 2025 Public Safety Act (S.L. 2025-70); SB 245, Expand Remote Drivers License Services (S.L. 2025-91); SB 254, Charter School Changes (S.L. 2025-80); SB 710, DPS Agency Changes (S.L. 2025-51); SB 355, Support the Dept. of Adult Correction (S.L. 2026-44); SB 664, JMAC/ABC/Other Revisions (S.L. 2025-65); and SB 648, Winter Sports Safety and Accidents (S.L. 2026-49) ⁴. He is also recorded as the first primary sponsor of SB 61, I-95 Toll Prohibition, and SB 3, a local act for the 4th Senatorial District ⁴.

Documented disputes and controversies

At a rally at the North Carolina legislature on Monday, April 25, 2016 in support of House Bill 2, Newton -- then the Republican nominee for attorney general -- closed his remarks by telling the audience: "Tell your friends and family who had to work today what this is all about and how hard we must fight to keep our state straight" ¹⁰¹².

CBS News and the Associated Press reported that the North Carolina Democratic Party "issued a statement Tuesday calling the comments hateful and discriminatory toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people," and that the party called for Newton, "who shepherded the legislation through his chamber," to apologize and for Republican Governor Pat McCrory to denounce the remarks ¹². A Fayetteville Observer editorial published the following morning said Newton "let the bigot out of the bag" as he wrapped up his speech, writing: "We doubt that Newton is that naive....Newton was indulging in the same successful pandering that House and Senate leaders used to justify House Bill 2" ¹¹. Chris Brook, legal director for the ACLU of North Carolina, said that based on those remarks it was clear HB2 was an attempt to marginalize the entire LGBT community in North Carolina ¹⁰.

Newton attempted to clarify his remarks the next day, saying he simply meant that men should not be allowed to enter a ladies' bathroom, and told the Raleigh News & Observer: "I don't know how they made that connection. I never mentioned anything about homosexuality" ¹⁰. Josh Stein, his opponent in the attorney general's race, said via Facebook that Newton's comments had no place in North Carolina ¹⁰.

Newton lost that November's attorney general election to Stein by 24,613 votes out of more than 4.5 million cast ⁹, and returned to the state Senate after winning District 4 in 2022 ⁸.

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