Former Green Beret Christian Castelli has taken an early lead in the heated 6th Congressional District Republican primary.

Six Republicans are vying to represent the 6th Congressional District, which contains Davie, Davidson, Rowan and parts of Cabarrus, Guilford and Forsyth counties.

Castelli is leading with nearly 26% of the vote with 32 of 195 precincts reporting. But as early results have come in, the lead has flipped between Castelli, former Rep. Mark Walker and Trump-endorsed Addison McDowell.

Rep. Kathy Manning, a Democrat from Greensboro, currently holds the seat. But she chose not to seek reelection after the Republican-controlled General Assembly, redrew the 14 congressional districts to favor their party.

Manning’s district was among four held by Democrats, redrawn to give Republicans a viable path toward victory.

No Democrat stepped up to run in the 6th district, meaning the winner of the Republican primary will be the seat’s next representative.

The race

The redrawn map and lack of an incumbent in the race drew big names and big personalities to run.

Many believed that Hines, a 28-year-old, former N.C. State football star who left the sport to study politics at Yale University, would secure an endorsement in the race from former President Donald Trump. Trump had hinted as much in a speech in early December.

So it shocked everyone when Trump announced his endorsement would go to McDowell, a virtual unknown in North Carolina politics and someone who kept his candidacy a secret until Trump’s announcement.

That meant another snub from Trump for Walker, who represented the 6th district for three terms from 2015 until Republicans lawmakers redrew to take over his district for a Democrat in 2020. Many saw that as an attempt to avenge Walker for winning his election in 2014 against Supreme Court Justice Phil Berger Jr., the son and namesake of the state’s Senate leader.

In 2022, Walker ran for U.S. Senate, but lost to Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican from Davie County. This cycle, he initially attempted a run for governor, but after seeing the overwhelming support Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, had in the gubernatorial race, Walker set his sights back on reclaiming his old district.

And despite making the 6th District viable for a Republican, lawmakers drew Walker’s house outside the district boundary. It’s not a requirement for a candidate to live inside their district, and many running in the 6th did not when the race began.

Former High Point Mayor Jay Wagner and plastic surgeon Mary Ann Contogiannis, are also running.

The controversies

The race featured a series of missteps over the past few weeks — particularly the campaigns of Walker and Castelli.

Walker lost endorsements from Republicans like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Reps. Gus Bilirakis and Matt Gaetz.

But he wasn’t alone.

His opponent, Castelli, drew ire from Robinson after a super PAC in Greensboro falsely claimed Castelli earned Robinson’s endorsement in the 2024 cycle and the family of NASCAR legend and Republican donor Richard Petty also released a statement saying that Petty was not endorsing Castelli, despite the campaign’s claims otherwise.

Castelli’s campaign drew further controversy after a video Mark Walker posted, resurfaced with poorly dubbed over audio, twice, attempting to make it look like Walker was talking to a friend about why he shouldn’t be in Congress and that Castelli was better than him. Walker’s campaign said they were considering all legal recourse.