Democrat Shelly Headen defeated incumbent Republican John Blust in North Carolina House District 62 in Guilford County by 233 votes, according to complete but unofficial results. Republicans had held the seat for more than two decades. The Guilford County Democratic Party and North Carolina House Democratic Caucus both withdrew their support from Headen after inflammatory social media comments resurfaced in September.
It was too late to remove her name from the ballot. Blust could still request a recount. State law allows one when the margin is 1 percent or less of the votes cast; Headen’s lead is about 0.5 percent.
Blust would have to submit a written request to the Guilford County Board of Elections by 5 p.m. November 16, the first business day after the county finalizes its count on November 13. Newsweek reached out to Blust to ask whether he plans to request a recount and for his reaction to the result, but did not receive a response before publication.
On August 23, 2024, Headen’s X account, @shelly_headen, posted: “Ready for the MAGAs to die off!!” Headen has since denied having an X account, though the House Democratic Caucus had linked to one under her name, The Assembly reported. In a March 4, 2025, Facebook comment, purportedly by Headen, read: "I think our only hope is an attack on US soil," naming Alabama and Louisiana as preferred locations because that is "where the stupid people live." The comment resurfaced September 10, when the North Carolina House Republicans' X account posted a screenshot of it. Headen told The Assembly she did not remember writing the comment or know whether it was real.
On September 11, the North Carolina House Republicans' X account shared a screenshot that appears to show a Facebook post of Headen at the memorial at Dachau, the Nazi concentration camp in Germany, with the caption "This is where Trump supporters belong." Headen told the Greensboro News & Record she did not post the image and believes the caption was edited onto a real photo. In a statement to WRAL, the North Carolina House Democratic Caucus called Headen’s posts “unacceptable” and said it “condemns these comments without qualification and will not support Shelly Headen’s candidacy.” The Guilford County Democratic Party went further. In a statement posted to social media, it wrote that "language that references concentration camps, uses derogatory terms toward neurodivergent individuals, or invokes political violence is completely indefensible and unacceptable." The party said it was “formally withdrawing all financial, operational, and organizational support” from Headen’s campaign.
Democrats couldn't replace her. Absentee ballots began going out September 4, and state law bars party nominees from withdrawing after that date. Republicans, meanwhile, turned the posts into a statewide issue.
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