| State: | North Carolina |
| District: | 51 |
| Chamber: | House of Representatives |
| Representative: | John Sauls |
| Party: | Republican |
| Residence: | Sanford |
| Percent White: | 57 |
| Percent Black: | 20 |
| Percent Hispanic: | 17 |
| Percent Asian: | 2 |
| Percent Native American: | 1 |
| Percent Remainder Of Multiracial: | 3 |
| Population: | 93,531 |
| Population Year: | 2020 |
North Carolina's 51st House district is one of 120 districts in the North Carolina House of Representatives. It has been represented by Republican John Sauls since 2017.[1]
Since 2023, the district has included all of Lee County, as well as part of Moore County. The district overlaps with the 12th and 21st Senate districts.
| Representative | Party | Dates | Notes | Representative | Party | Dates | Notes | Representative | Party | Dates | Notes | Representative | Party | Dates | Notes | Counties | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District created January 1, 1983. | 1983–1993 All of Buncombe and Transylvania counties. Part of Henderson County.[2] | |||||||||||||||||
| Marie Colton | Democratic | January 1, 1983 – January 1, 1995 | Redistricted from the 43rd district. | Martin Nesbitt | Democratic | January 1, 1983 – January 1, 1995 | Redistricted from the 43rd district. Lost re-election. | Narvel Crawford | Democratic | January 1, 1983 – January 1, 1995 | Redistricted from the 43rd district. | align=left | Gordon Greenwood | Democratic | nowrap | January 1, 1983 – January 1, 1993 | Redistricted from the 43rd district. | |
| 1993–2003 Part of Buncombe County.[3] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wilma Sherill | Republican | January 1, 1995 – January 1, 2003 | Redistricted to the 116th district. | align=left | Larry Linney | Republican | nowrap | January 1, 1995 – January 1, 1997 | Lost re-election. | Lanier Cansler | Republican | January 1, 1995 – April 8, 2001 | Resigned. | |||||
| Martin Nesbitt | Democratic | January 1, 1997 – January 1, 2003 | Redistricted to the 114th district. | |||||||||||||||
| Vacant | nowrap | April 8, 2001 – April 11, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||
| align=left | Mark Crawford | Republican | nowrap | April 11, 2001 – January 1, 2003 | Appointed to finish Cansler's term. Redistricted to the 115th district and lost re-election. | |||||||||||||
| Representative | Party | Dates | Notes | Counties | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Sauls | Republican | January 1, 2003 – January 1, 2007 | Retired. | 2003–2005 All of Lee County. Parts of Harnett and Moore counties.[4] | ||
| 2005–2013 All of Lee County. Part of Harnett County.[5] | ||||||
| align=left | Jimmy Love | Democratic | nowrap | January 1, 2007 – January 1, 2011 | Lost re-election. | |
| Mike Stone | Republican | January 1, 2011 – January 1, 2015 | Lost re-election. | |||
| 2013–2019 Parts of Lee and Harnett counties.[6] | ||||||
| align=left | Brad Salmon | Democratic | nowrap | January 1, 2015 – January 1, 2017 | Lost re-election. | |
| John Sauls | Republican | January 1, 2017 – Present | ||||
| 2019–2023 All of Lee County. Part of Harnett County.[7] [8] | ||||||
| 2023–Present All of Lee County Part of Moore County.[9] |