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In his first time running for reelection as a state senator, Republican Carl Ford, who represents District 33 which includes Stanly and Rowan counties, handily defeated Democratic challenger Tarsha Ellis.

Winning roughly 71 percent of the electorate, Ford received 73,047 votes compared to Ellis, who received 30,373. Though his margin of victory was around 68 percent in Rowan, Ford did even better in Stanly, where he won roughly 76 percent of the vote.

While Ford held a slight edge in votes by mail in Stanly, he won handily against Ellis when it came to early voting, where he received 13,000 more ballots, and Election Day voting, where he received 3,500 more ballots.

First elected to the Senate in 2018, Ford, who lives in China Grove, previously served three terms in the state House, representing the 76th district, which encompassed part of Rowan and Cabarrus counties. For the past 38 years, he has owned four small radio stations in Rowan and Cabarrus. He also worked many years at Cannon Mills in the 1970s.

While Ford was hopeful going into Tuesday night, based on favorable polling numbers and the demographics of his district, he said he was still anxious for the results.

“I never have and never will take anything for granted because anything can happen,” he said, adding that he always approaches an election as if he’s behind.

He also complimented his opponent, saying that he had nice conversations with Ellis, especially during their debate a few weeks ago, and that “she ran a good, clean race.”

Looking forward to next year and a new term in office, Ford hopes to continue cutting regulations and taxes and hopes to bring more opportunities and funding to Stanly and Rowan.

“If there’s bacon out there, we want to bring it home,” he said.

Ford also looks forward to working alongside N.C. House Republican Wayne Sasser, who won his uncontested race, and Ben Moss, who defeated N.C. House Democrat Scott Brewer.