The 2018 election cycle in North Carolina has started off with a few surprises after yesterday’s primary elections.

Carolina Journal reports

The Rev. Mark Harris, who lost the 2016 Republican primary in the 9th Congressional District by 144 votes, won a rematch Tuesday with three-term incumbent Rep. Robert Pittenger.

Pittenger is the first incumbent member of Congress in 2018 to lose a primary, and the first incumbent North Carolina congressman to do so decades, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Eight incumbent state lawmakers also lost to primary opponents. Two GOP senators had no choice. They were  “double-bunked” in new districts 31 and 45, pitted against other incumbents. In District 31, Dan Barrett lost to Joyce Krawiec by about 230 votes; in District 45, Shirley Randleman fell 1,100 votes, or 6 percentage points, short of Deanna Ballard.

The other incumbent losers were Sen. Joel Ford, D-Mecklenburg; Sen. David Curtis, R-Lincoln; Rep. Beverly Boswell, R-Hyde; Rep. Duane Hall, D-Wake; Rep. Rodney Moore, D-Mecklenburg; and Rep. Justin Burr, R-Stanly.

North Carolina’s ballots this year are rare, with no statewide candidates on the ballot. Some of the new legislative districts were not made final until a few weeks ago, boosting turnover and turnout. Democrats are eager to oppose the Trump administrations and break GOP supermajorities in the House and Senate.

Click here for Carolina Journal’s list of results for all congressional and legislative primary races.