The 2012 North Carolina gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the

2012 United States presidential election The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-el ...

, U.S. House election, statewide judicial election, Council of State election and various local elections. The incumbent Democratic

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 ...

Bev Perdue Beverly Eaves Perdue (born Beverly Marlene Moore; January 14, 1947) is an American businesswoman, politician, and member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who served as the List of governors of North Carolina, 73rd Govern ...

, was eligible to run for reelection, but announced on January 26, 2012, that she would not seek a second term. Incumbent lieutenant governor Walter H. Dalton won the Democratic nomination, while former mayor of Charlotte and 2008 gubernatorial nominee

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 ...

won the

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 ...

nomination. McCrory won the election with almost 55 percent of the vote to Dalton's 43 percent, the largest margin of victory for a Republican in an open-seat race for governor since the

Reconstruction Era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

nominee Barbara Howe took 2% of the vote. When he was inaugurated as the 74th governor of North Carolina in January 2013, the Republicans held complete control of state government for the first time since Reconstruction. However, this would be the last time a

won the

governorship 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 ...

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 ...

. As of 2022, this is the only time a Republican was elected Governor of North Carolina since 1992. It was also the last time the state concurrently voted for a gubernatorial and presidential candidate of the same party, and the last time a Republican candidate won Mecklenburg County in a statewide election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

* Bruce Blackmon, physician * Walter H. Dalton, Lieutenant Governor * Gary M. Dunn, salesman and UNC-Charlotte student *

Bob Etheridge Bobby Ray "Bob" Etheridge (born August 7, 1941) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 1997 to 2011. He previously served as a county commissioner, state representative and state superintendent of public instructio ...

, former U.S. Representative *

Bill Faison Bill Faison is a former member of the North Carolina House of Representatives who represented the 50th district from 2005 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. Early life, education, and early care ...

, state representative * Gardenia Henley, retired

U.S. Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 ...

auditor

Declined

Dan Blue Daniel Terry Blue Jr. (born April 18, 1949) is an American politician and attorney serving as a member of the North Carolina Senate, representing the state's 14th Senate district, and is the Senate minority leader. Early life and education Bl ...

, state senator *

Erskine Bowles Erskine Boyce Bowles (born August 8, 1945) is an American businessman and political figure from North Carolina. He served from 2005 to 2010 as the president of the University of North Carolina system. In 1997–98 he served as White House Chi ...

, chairman of the

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (often called Simpson–Bowles or Bowles–Simpson from the names of co-chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles; or NCFRR) was a bipartisan Presidential Commission on deficit reduction, ...

, former

UNC System 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 Sys ...

president, former White House Chief of Staff *

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 ...

, Attorney General of North Carolina *

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 tw ...

, state treasurer *

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 *

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 ...

, mayor of

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

Kay Hagan Janet Kay Hagan (née Ruthven; May 26, 1953 – October 28, 2019) was an American lawyer, banking executive, and politician who served as a United States Senator from North Carolina from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previo ...

, U.S. Senator *

Jim Hunt James Baxter Hunt Jr. (born May 16, 1937) is an American politician and retired attorney who was the List of governors of North Carolina, 69th and 71st Governor of North Carolina (1977–1985, and 1993–2001). He is the longest-serving governo ...

, former governor *

Allen Joines James Allen Joines is an American politician currently serving as the mayor of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 2009, he was also appointed chairman of the North Carolina Economic Development Board. Political career Joines, a Democrat, was elect ...

, Mayor of

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

Mike McIntyre Douglas Carmichael "Mike" McIntyre II (; born August 6, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who was first elected to represent North Carolina's 7th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996. He served for 18 ...

, U.S. Representative * Brad Miller, U.S. Representative *

Richard H. Moore Richard Hancock Moore (born Oxford, Granville County, North Carolina, August 30, 1960) was the North Carolina State Treasurer from 2001–2009. He was first elected to that post in 2000 and re-elected in 2004. Career Moore earned both his under ...

, 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 ...

and candidate for governor in 2008 *

, incumbent governor *

Heath Shuler Joseph Heath Shuler (born December 31, 1971) is an American businessman, former NFL quarterback, and former U.S. Representative for from 2007 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was a member of the Blue Dog Coalition during ...

, U.S. Representative

Polling

Debates

A series of televised debates between candidates Dalton, Etheridge and Faison, held April 16–18, was considered potentially pivotal, since "the governor’s race has so far attracted little attention, created little buzz and produced few political commercials" and "polls suggest there is still a large swath of Democratic voters who have yet to decide" for whom to vote. The first debate, conducted by

WRAL-TV WRAL-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Research Triangle area. It is the flagship station of the locally based Capitol Broadcasting Company, which h ...

and broadcast statewide, featured few differences between the candidates, but Faison was seen as the aggressor. The second debate (conducted by

UNC-TV The University of North Carolina Center for Public Media, branded on-air as PBS North Carolina or commonly PBS NC, is a public television network serving the state of North Carolina. It is operated by the University of North Carolina system, whic ...

) was more contentious, with Dalton criticizing Etheridge's support of a

free trade agreement A free-trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating states. There are two types of trade agreements: bilateral and multilateral. Bilateral trade agreements occur ...

while he was in Congress, and Etheridge attacking Dalton over his attendance record on boards and commissions and his alleged failure to speak out against the actions of the majority-Republican legislature. In the final debate of the series, this one conducted by

WNCN-TV WNCN (channel 17) is a television station licensed to Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States, serving the Research Triangle area as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on Front Street in north Ral ...

and the North Carolina

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 ...

, candidates were considered to be more "muted" in their criticisms of each other. All three spoke out strongly against a

voter ID A voter identification law is a law that requires a person to show some form of identification in order to vote. In some jurisdictions requiring photo IDs, voters who do not have photo ID often must have their identity verified by someone els ...

bill proposed by Republicans in the state legislature. Dalton emphasized modernizing the state's economy, Etheridge continued his themes of leadership and education, and Faison most sharply attacked Republicans and called for action on the state's unemployment problem.

Results

2012 North Carolina gubernatorial Democratic primary county map

Republican primary

Candidates

* Jim Harney, businessman *Scott Jones, businessman *Jim Mahan, small businessman and former teacher *

, former mayor of

and nominee for governor in 2008 * Charles Kenneth Moss, businessman and preacher * Paul Wright, attorney and former District Court and

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

judge

Declined

* Phil Berger, State Senate President Pro Tem *

Cherie Berry Nora Cherie Killian Berry (born December 21, 1946) is an American politician who served as the North Carolina Commissioner of Labor from 2001 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she was the first woman to hold the office. Early life Nora ...

, state labor commissioner (running for re-election) *

Peter Brunstetter Peter Samuel Brunstetter (born February 28, 1956 in San Francisco, California) is a former Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly who represented the state’s 31st Senate district, including constituents in Forsyth County and ...

, state senator *

Paul Coble Paul Yelverton Coble (born October 19, 1953, in Raleigh, North Carolina) served one term as Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina from December 1999 to December 2001. Coble served on the Wake County Board of Commissioners from 2006 to 2014, and served ...

, former mayor of

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

and current chairman of the

Wake County Board of Commissioners The Wake County Board of Commissioners is the governing board for Wake County, which includes the City of Raleigh. As of the 2010 census, the population of Wake County was 900,993 making it North Carolina's second most populated county. Its county ...

(running for Congress) *

Steve Troxler Steve W. Troxler (born 1952) is an American farmer and Republican politician. He serves as the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services for North Carolina. Because of a contested election due to lost ballots in the November 2004 statewi ...

, state Agriculture Commissioner (running for re-election)

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

* Walter H. Dalton (D), lieutenant governor * Barbara Howe (L), nominee for governor in 2000 and 2004 *

(R), former mayor of

and nominee for governor in 2008

Predictions

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 3, 2012 -

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Complete video of debate
October 16, 2012 -

Complete video of debate
October 24, 2012 -

Dalton and McCrory met for their first televised debate at the studios of

on October 3, 2012. Two debates were sponsored by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters Educational Foundation, with the third and final debate sponsored by

and the Rocky Mount Chamber of Commerce. Howe was not invited to participate in any of the scheduled debates. The Associated Press characterized Dalton as going "on the offensive" against McCrory in the first debate. The final encounter between the two candidates, held Oct. 24 on the campus of

North Carolina Wesleyan College North Carolina Wesleyan University (NCWU) is a private Methodist university in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. It was founded in 1956. North Carolina Wesleyan also offers evening courses at its main Rocky Mount campus, as well as satellite locations ...

, featured "more subdued disagreements over taxes, education, health care and mental health."News & Observer
/ref>

Polling

;Democratic primary polling with Perdue ;Republican primary with Ellmers, Troxler ;General election polling ;With Blue ;With Blackmon ;With Bowles ;With Cooper ;With Foxx ;With Etheridge ;With Faison ;With Henley ;With Hagan ;With Joines ;With McIntyre ;With Meeker ;With Miller ;With Moore ;With Perdue ;With Shuler

Results

References

External links

North Carolina State Board of Elections
;Official campaign websites
Walter Dalton for Governor

Barbara Howe for Governor

Pat McCrory for Governor
{{2012 United States elections

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

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 ...

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declined

Polling

Debates

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declined

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

Predictions

Debates

Polling

Results

See also

References

External links