Republican · North Carolina's 13th District · 2026
Brad Knott
Knott grew up in Raleigh and studied at Baylor and Wake Forest Law before becoming a federal prosecutor.
Biography
Brad Knott and his wife, Joanna, are lifelong North Carolinians raising two daughters.1 He calls the Raleigh area home; his parents grew up in Wilson and Knightdale.2 He says his grandfather fought in the Battle of the Bulge.2 Joanna graduated from NC State, while Brad attended Baylor before returning to North Carolina for law school.21
Knott earned his law degree at Wake Forest and worked for state Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby during law school.2 He then spent seven and a half years as a federal prosecutor in eastern North Carolina.2 His cases included Sandro Cuevas Jr.'s methamphetamine prosecution, which ended in a guilty plea in 2020.3 An appeals court upheld Cuevas's reduced sentence of 295 months in 2023 after an earlier resentencing order.4
Elected in 2024, Knott serves on Judiciary, Homeland Security, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Ethics.1 He helped advance legislation with Richard Hudson authorizing a Fort Bragg land transfer for a planned state veterans home in Harnett County.56
His campaign supports finishing the border wall, tougher immigration enforcement, school choice and a constitutional balanced budget requirement.7 He advocates a minimum five year prison term followed by deportation for immigrants without legal status who commit a felony.7 Democrat Paul Barringer is challenging him for another House term.8
Record and controversies
Earlier voter registration address
WRAL reported in February 2024 that Knott kept his parents' address on his voter registration until November 2023 despite living elsewhere in Raleigh.9 Knott acknowledged he should have updated it, called the failure an oversight and said his votes had not compromised election integrity.9 At that report's publication, state and county election officials said they had received no challenges to his ballots; the article did not report a criminal finding against him.9