Mark Harris is the Republican incumbent for North Carolina's 8th Congressional District, a former Baptist pastor who was elected to the U.S. House in 2024.[1][2][3] He previously ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2014 and for the U.S. House in 2016, and was the Republican candidate in the 2018 race for the 9th District, a result the State Board of Elections did not certify.[1][3] In Congress he serves on the Agriculture, Judiciary, and Education and Workforce Committees.[1][2]
Harris was born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the youngest of five children, according to his Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey, and graduated from R.J. Reynolds High School.[1] He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Appalachian State University (1987) and, according to his House website, a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.[1][2]
Harris worked as a pastor in North Carolina and Georgia, including as senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Charlotte for over a decade, according to his House website and survey responses.[1][2] He served as president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina from 2011 to 2013, and has served as a trustee of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and on the board of directors of the Biblical Recorder.[1]
Harris ran in the 2014 Republican U.S. Senate primary, finishing third with 17.5 percent behind Thom Tillis and Greg Brannon, and in the 2016 Republican primary for the 9th District, where he trailed incumbent Robert Pittenger by 133 votes after a recount.[1] He won the 2018 Republican primary in the 9th District over Pittenger, and led Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in unofficial general-election returns.[1] The State Board of Elections did not certify the result after questions about absentee-ballot irregularities in Bladen and Robeson counties; Harris called for a new election during a January 2019 hearing and did not run in the September 2019 special election.[1][3] WBTV reports no charges were filed against Harris in the related probe.[3]
Harris entered the 8th District race in September 2023 after Rep. Dan Bishop announced a run for attorney general, won the 2024 general election over Democrat Justin Dues, 59.6 percent to 40.4 percent, and took office January 3, 2025.[1][3] In the 2025-2026 Congress he serves on the House Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on the Judiciary (Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Subcommittee; Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee), and the Committee on Education and the Workforce.[1][2] One bill he introduced, requiring the U.S. Attorney General to publish the names of jurisdictions that release people charged with violent crimes without cash bail, passed the House in the current session, according to WFAE.[4] According to his House website, he is married to Beth, and they have three adult children and eleven grandchildren.[2]
Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.
