The 2020 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 2020, to elect the

Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina The lieutenant governor of North Carolina is the second-highest elected official in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is the only elected official to have powers in both the legislative and executive branches of state government. A member o ...

, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as

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

to 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 ...

and

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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

and various

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. Primary elections were held on March 3, 2020. In North Carolina, the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and Lieutenant Governor are elected separately. Incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Lieutenant Governor

Dan Forest Dan Forest (born October 15, 1967) is an American politician who served as the 34th lieutenant governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2021. He is the son of former congresswoman Sue Myrick. An architect by trade, he was the Republican nominee ...

was re-elected to a second term in 2016, despite Republican Governor

Pat McCrory Patrick Lloyd McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American businessman, politician and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd Mayor o ...

losing reelection by a narrow margin. Forest was ineligible to run for a third term due to

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

established by the

Constitution of North Carolina The Constitution of the State of North Carolina governs the structure and function of the state government of North Carolina, one of the United States; it is the highest legal document for the state and subjugates North Carolina law. All U.S. st ...

. He instead unsuccessfully ran for Governor. The Republican Party nominated businessman Mark Robinson (who was running for public office for the first time), and the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

nominated state representative Yvonne Lewis Holley. No matter who won, North Carolina would elect its first African-American lieutenant governor. Robinson narrowly won the general election, even while Democratic incumbent Gov.

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III (born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician, serving as the 75th governor of North Carolina since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th attorney general of North Carolina from 20 ...

won re-election.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

* Mark Robinson, businessman

Eliminated in primary

*Buddy Bengel,

North Carolina Education Lottery North Carolina has one of the United States' youngest lottery systems, having been enacted in 2005. The North Carolina State Lottery Act created the 9-member Lottery commission who was charged with overseeing all aspects of the education lottery. 1 ...

commissioner *Deborah Cochran, former mayor of Mount Airy *

Renee Ellmers Renee Louise Ellmers ( Jacisin; born February 9, 1964) is an American registered nurse and politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2017. She is a member of the Republican Party. Ellmers defeated seven-term Democratic incum ...

, former

U.S. Representative 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 c ...

for

North Carolina's 2nd congressional district North Carolina's 2nd congressional district is located in the central part of the state. The district contains most of Wake County. Prior to court-mandated redistricting in 2019, it also included northern Johnston County, southern Nash County, ...

*Greg Gebhardt, North Carolina National Guardsman and U.S. Army veteran * Mark Johnson,

North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction The North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As the head of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the s ...

*John L. Ritter, attorney *

Scott Stone Scott Stone is an American politician and engineer who served as a Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for the 105th from May 16, 2016, through the end of 2018. Education Stone graduated Clarkson University with a ...

, former state representative * Andy Wells, state senator

Declined

* Mark Brody, state representative *Jim Puckett, Mecklenburg County commissioner * 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 ...

Polling

Results

2020 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial Republican primary county map

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

* Yvonne Lewis Holley, state representative

Eliminated in primary

* Chaz Beasley, state representative *Ron Newton, candidate for lieutenant governor 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 trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

NC State Board of Elections: State candidate list by contest
/ref> *Allen Thomas,

Hoke County Hoke County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 52,082. Its county seat is Raeford. Hoke County is part of the Fayetteville metropolitan statistical area. The county is home to part of t ...

commissioner *Bill Toole, environmental attorney, former Belmont city councilman, and former chairman of the

Gaston County Gaston County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 227,943. The county seat is Gastonia. Dallas served as the original county seat from 1846 until 1911. Gaston County is included in the C ...

Democratic Party *

Terry Van Duyn Teresa Van Duyn (born September 21, 1951) is a former Democratic member of the North Carolina Senate. She represented District 49, which encompasses most of Asheville and Buncombe County, North Carolina from 2014 until 2021. Early life and educ ...

, state senator

Withdrawn

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 ...

, former state senator ''( ran for the U.S. Senate)''

Polling

Results

2020 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial Democratic primary county map

Because no candidate in the Democratic primary won more than 30 percent of the vote, second-place finisher Terry Van Duyn was entitled to call for a runoff, or "second primary," if she chose to do so. However, Van Duyn chose not to call for a runoff, and Yvonne Holley was awarded the Democratic nomination.

General election

Campaign

Robinson controversy

The Republican nominee attracted controversy in September as a result of his social media posts alleging negative Jewish influence in Hollywood, among other complaints. He claimed that the movie ''Black Panther'' was "created by an agnostic Jew and put to film by satanic marxist ic How can this trash, that was only created to pull the

shekel Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...

s out of your

Schvartze Schvartze (from ; cf. German: ; OED) is a racial slur for black people in the Yiddish language. Etymology ''Schvartze'' is derived from the Yiddish word ''schvarts'', which means "black". An article for the Washington Jewish Week refers to it as " ...

pockets, invoke any pride?" He also mischaracterized former first lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

as male and her husband

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

as an atheist. Robinson stood by his comments in a September interview with Raleigh news station WRAL, stating, "I don’t back up from them a bit. May hurt some people’s feelings, some things that people may not like, but those are my personal opinions."

Endorsements

Polling

;Graphical summary

Results

Notes

References

External links

* * * (State affiliate of the U.S.

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

) * ;Official campaign websites
Yvonne Lewis Holley (D) for Lt. Governor

Mark Robinson (R) for Lt. Governor
{{North Carolina

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

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 So ...