Rep. Patrick McHenry, along with State House Budget Chief Jason Saine, reside in Lincoln County, one of Charlotte’s deep red “exurban” communities. Lincoln has grown slightly more than the state average over the past decade but is projected to be one of North Carolina’s fastest-growing counties over the next 20 years when it could double in population. A lower percentage of Lincoln’s residents hold college degrees compared to the state as a whole, while its per capita and household incomes are right at the state averages. More than half of Lincoln’s residents commute to work in a different county. And it votes overwhelmingly Republican – Ted Budd in 2022 and Donald Trump in 2020 each won 72% of the vote.