The 2020 United States Senate election in North Carolina was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

to represent the State of North Carolina, concurrently with the 2020 United States presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and various state and local elections. North Carolina was one of just five states holding presidential, gubernatorial, and senatorial elections concurrently in 2020. On March 3, 2020, incumbent

Thom Tillis Thomas Roland Tillis (born August 30, 1960) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from North Carolina since 2015. A Republican, he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2006, and began ser ...

and former State Senator

Cal Cunningham James Calvin "Cal" Cunningham III (born August 6, 1973) is an American lawyer, politician, and retired military officer. A member of the Democratic Party and a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve, he served one term as a North ...

won their respective

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

. Most experts and pollsters considered Cunningham to be the favorite; Tillis outperformed pre-election polling to win a narrow victory, successfully breaking the "one-term curse" that existed with this particular Senate seat for over thirty years, as many of Tillis's predecessors only served one term. On November 10, 2020, a week after election day, Cunningham called Tillis to concede the race. Tillis won by a margin of 1.8% over Cunningham, slightly larger than his 1.5% victory in 2014.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

, incumbent U.S. Senator

Eliminated in primary

*Larry Holmquist, candidate for U.S. Senate in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

*Sharon Hudson, activist *Paul Wright, former

North Carolina Superior Court The Superior Court is North Carolina's general jurisdiction trial court. It was established in 1777 and is North Carolina's oldest court. Jurisdiction and administration The Superior Court is the trial court of general jurisdiction in North Caroli ...

judge,

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

, and candidate for U.S. Senate in

Withdrawn

*Sandy Smith, farm owner ''( running for U.S. House in NC-01)'' *Garland Tucker, former CEO and chairman of Triangle Capital

Declined

Mark Meadows Mark Randall Meadows (born July 28, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 29th White House chief of staff from 2020 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 11th c ...

, former U.S. Representative for

North Carolina's 11th congressional district North Carolina's 11th congressional district encompasses most of Western North Carolina. Since January 3, 2021, the district has been represented by Madison Cawthorn. Redistricting The 11th district has historically been known for its volat ...

Ted Budd Theodore Paul Budd (born October 21, 1971) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, his district covers the north-central part of the state. Budd was ...

, incumbent U.S. Representative for

North Carolina's 13th congressional district The thirteenth congressional district of North Carolina was re-established in 2002 after the state gained population in the 2000 United States census. Previously, the state had 13 districts from the first election following the 1810 census unti ...

* Mark Walker, incumbent U.S. Representative for

North Carolina's 6th congressional district North Carolina's 6th congressional district is located in north central portion of the state. As a result of court-mandated redistricting in 2019, it was shifted into the central Triad region and contains all of Guilford County and a portion ...

Endorsements

Polling

;with only Thom Tillis and Mark Walker ;with Thom Tillis and Generic Republican

Results

North Carolina Senate Republican Primary, 2020

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

, former state senator and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010

Eliminated in primary

*Trevor Fuller, Mecklenburg County commissioner *Atul Goel, physician and former

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

officer *

Erica D. Smith Erica Danette Smith (born November 24, 1969) is an American engineer and politician who represented District 3 in the North Carolina Senate from 2015 to 2021. She was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 United States Senate elec ...

, state senator *Steve Swenson

Withdrawn

*Katherine Bell-Moore *Eva F. Lee, attorney (running for

North Carolina Commissioner of Labor The Commissioner of Labor is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The commissioner is a constitutional officer who leads the state's Department of Labor. North Carolina's general statues provide the commissioner with br ...

) * Eric L. Mansfield, former state senator *Steve Williams

Declined

Janet Cowell Janet Cowell (born July 19, 1968) is the former North Carolina State Treasurer, serving from 2009 to 2017, and is the first woman to hold that position in North Carolina. She was previously a two-term member of the Raleigh City Council and a ...

, former

North Carolina State Treasurer The North Carolina State Treasurer is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina responsible for overseeing the financial operations of state government. The current state treasurer is Dale Folwell. The office of state treasur ...

(endorsed Cunningham) *

Anthony Foxx Anthony Renard Foxx (born April 30, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Secretary of Transportation from 2013 to 2017. President Barack Obama nominated him in April 2013, and he was confirmed by a 100–0 v ...

, former

U.S. Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...

and former mayor of

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

(endorsed Cunningham) *

Rachel Hunt Rachel H. Hunt is a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Hunt was elected in November 2018 to represent House District 103 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, by a slim margin of ...

, state representative *

Vi Lyles Viola Alexander Lyles (born September 28, 1952) is an American politician serving as the 59th mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Lyles was a member of the Charlotte City Council before taking office ...

, mayor of

Dan McCready Daniel Kent McCready (born July 18, 1983) is an American veteran, entrepreneur, civil rights activist, and former political candidate from Charlotte, North Carolina. He served in the United States Marine Corps, achieving the rank of captain. M ...

, former U.S. Marine, businessman, and nominee for

North Carolina's 9th congressional district The 9th congressional district of North Carolina is a congressional district in south-central North Carolina. The district's current boundaries were redrawn in February 2016 after a U.S. District Court overturned the existing boundaries because ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

and 2019 special election *

Deborah K. Ross Deborah Ross (née Koff, June 20, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2021. Her district is based in Raleigh. A member of the Democratic Party, Ross served as a member of the North Ca ...

, former state representative and nominee for U.S. Senate in

( running for North Carolina's 2nd congressional district) *

Thomas W. Ross Thomas Warren Ross Sr. is an American public official who served as the president of the University of North Carolina system from 2011 to 2016. He succeeded Erskine Bowles on January 1, 2011. Formerly, he was president of Davidson College, a pri ...

, former president of the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

system *

Josh Stein Joshua Stein (born September 13, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who serves as the 50th and current Attorney General of North Carolina, a position he has held since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Stein previously served as a ...

North Carolina Attorney General The Attorney General of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The attorney general is a constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies in legal matters, supplying other state offici ...

( running for reelection) * Brian Turner, state representative

Endorsements

Polling

Results

North Carolina Senate Democratic Primary, 2020

Other candidates

Libertarian Party

Nominee

*Shannon Bray, U.S. Navy veteran, author, and candidate for

North Carolina's 3rd congressional district North Carolina's 3rd congressional district is located on the Atlantic coast of North Carolina. It covers the Outer Banks and the counties adjacent to the Pamlico Sound. The district is currently represented by Greg Murphy following a speci ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Constitution Party

Nominee

*Kevin E. Hayes, candidate for the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2012 and

Independence Party

Withdrawn

*Jeremy Thomas

Independent write-in candidates

Withdrawn

*Marcia Abrams *Lee Brian *Matthew Cisneros *Michelle Parks *Sunita Singh

General election

Campaign

During the Democratic primary, a Republican-funded Super PAC spent $3 million on ads attacking Cunningham and promoting left-wing rival Erica Smith. Cunningham and Tillis participated in debates on September 13, September 22, and October 1. In July, Tillis claimed Cunningham had been "silent" on the issue of defunding the police, saying,—"I assume issilence is ...consent". In reality, Cunningham had spoken publicly about the issue and written an op-ed a month earlier stating his opposition to defunding the police, advocating

police reform Criminal justice reform addresses structural issues in criminal justice systems such as racial profiling, police brutality, overcriminalization, mass incarceration, and recidivism. Criminal justice reform can take place at any point where the cr ...

instead. On October 3, the ''New York Times'' wrote that the race had fallen into "utter mayhem" within a period of a few hours after Tillis tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

and Cunningham admitted to exchanging sexual text messages with a woman who was not his wife, damaging an image that leaned heavily on his character and military service. Days later, the woman confirmed that she had a consensual physical relationship with Cunningham in 2020. The Army Reserve started an investigation into Cunningham. The husband of the woman who confirmed having an affair with Cunningham, himself an Army veteran, called on Cunningham to drop out of the Senate race. Asked repeatedly whether he had had other extramarital affairs, Cunningham declined to answer. Tillis's diagnosis, which came after an outbreak at a White House ceremony for Supreme Court nominee

Amy Coney Barrett Amy Vivian Coney Barrett (born January 28, 1972) is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The fifth woman to serve on the court, she was nominated by President Donald Trump and has served since October 27, 2020. ...

, temporarily threw Barrett's confirmation into jeopardy, as two Republican senators had already stated their intention to vote against (though one of them would eventually vote in favor of her confirmation).

Predictions

Endorsements

Fundraising

In the first quarter of 2020, Cunningham outraised Tillis for the first time, receiving $4.4 million compared to the $2.1 million Tillis raised. Tillis's prior fundraising, however, left him with the advantage in cash on hand, with $6.5 million in the bank, compared to Cunningham's $3 million.

Polling

Graphical summary

Aggregate polls

Tillis vs. Cunningham

;with Erica D. Smith ;with Generic Democrat ;with Thom Tillis and Generic Opponent ;with Generic Republican and Generic Democrat

Results

Like many Republican Senate candidates in 2020, Tillis did much better on Election Day than consistently trailed in pre-election prediction polls, the senator narrowly defeated Cunningham 48.7 to 46.9 and slightly outperformed

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

in terms of margin of victory. Tillis's upset victory has been largely attributed to Cunningham's response to his affair as well as Tillis's fierce campaigning during the last few weeks of the campaign. Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican * Bladen (largest municipality: Elizabethtown) *

Gates Gates is the plural of gate, a point of entry to a space which is enclosed by walls. It may also refer to: People * Gates (surname), various people with the last name * Gates Brown (1939-2013), American Major League Baseball player * Gates McFadde ...

(largest municipality: Gatesville) * Granville (largest municipality:

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

) * Hyde (largest municipality: Ocracoke) *

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

(largest municipality:

Cullowhee Cullowhee
, from the North Carolina Collection website at the

) *

Lenoir Lenoir may refer to: Locations: * Lenoir, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir City, Tennessee In Universities: * Lenoir-Rhyne University * Lenoir Dining Hall, a dining hall at the University of N ...

(largest municipality: Kinston) *

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

(largest municipality: Williamston) * Pasquotank (largest municipality:

Elizabeth City Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educ ...

) *

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

(largest municipality: Rockingham) * Robeson (largest municipality: Lumberton) *

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

(largest municipality:

Laurinburg Laurinburg is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, North Carolina, Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville, North Car ...

) Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic * Nash (largest municipality: Rocky Mount) * New Hanover (largest municipality: Wilmington) *

Watauga Watauga can refer to: ;Places *Watauga, Kentucky * Watauga County, North Carolina * Watauga, South Dakota * Watauga, Tennessee * Watauga, Texas ;Bodies of Water * Watauga Lake in Tennessee * The Watauga River in North Carolina and Tennessee ;Shi ...

(largest municipality: Boone)

Notes

;Partisan clients ;Voter samples and additional candidates

References

External links

* (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters) * * * * ;Official campaign websites
Shannon Bray (L) for Senate

Cal Cunningham (D) for Senate

Thom Tillis (R) for Senate
* (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters) {{2020 United States elections

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrawn

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrawn

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Other candidates

Libertarian Party

Nominee

Constitution Party

Nominee

Independence Party

Withdrawn

Independent write-in candidates

Withdrawn

General election

Campaign

Predictions

Endorsements

Fundraising

Polling

Graphical summary

Aggregate polls

Tillis vs. Cunningham

Results

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links