The 2010 United States Senate election in North Carolina was held on November 2, 2010. The filing deadline for the primaries was February 26; the primaries were held on May 4, with a Democratic primary runoff held on June 22. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator

Richard Burr Richard Mauze Burr (born November 30, 1955) is an American businessman and politician who is the senior United States senator from North Carolina, serving since 2005. A member of the Republican Party, Burr was previously a member of the United S ...

won re-election to a second term. Burr is the first incumbent to win re-election for this seat since

Sam Ervin Samuel James Ervin Jr. (September 27, 1896April 23, 1985) was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1954 to 1974. A native of Morganton, he liked to call himself a "country lawyer", and often ...

's last re-election in 1968. Burr's 54.8% also represented the highest vote share a North Carolina Republican received since the state began directly electing its senators.

Background

This Senate seat was unfavorable to incumbents over the past several decades. No person elected to this seat was re-elected since

in 1968. His successor, Democrat

Robert Burren Morgan Robert Burren Morgan (October 5, 1925 – July 16, 2016) was an American politician. He was a Democratic United States Senator from the state of North Carolina for a single term from 1975 until 1981. Life and career Born in Lillington, North C ...

, was defeated for re-election in 1980, along with many other incumbents from his party. His Republican successor,

John Porter East John Porter East (May 5, 1931 – June 29, 1986) was a Republican U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina from 1981 until his suicide in 1986. A paraplegic since 1955 because of polio, East was a professor of political science at East C ...

, committed suicide in 1986. East's appointed successor,

Jim Broyhill James Thomas Broyhill (born August 19, 1927) is an American former businessman and Republican U.S. Representative and Senator from the state of North Carolina. He represented much of the Foothills region of the state in the House from 1963 to ...

, served for just four months, resigning upon his November 1986 election loss to former Democratic Governor

Terry Sanford James Terry Sanford (August 20, 1917April 18, 1998) was an American lawyer and politician from North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, Sanford served as the 65th Governor of North Carolina from 1961 to 1965, was a two-time U.S. pr ...

. In 1992, the seat changed hands yet again, as Sanford was defeated by wealthy GOP businessman

Lauch Faircloth Duncan McLauchlin "Lauch" Faircloth (born January 14, 1928) is an American politician who served one term as a United States Republican Party, Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from North Carolina. Before his Senate service, Fairclo ...

, who himself lost in his bid for a second term six years later by

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George ...

. In 2004, no incumbent was defeated, as Edwards was running for vice president and was not allowed to be on the ballot in both races. However, that year the seat did change parties for the fifth time in a row, with

defeating Bill Clinton's onetime Chief of Staff

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 ...

Democratic primary

Candidates

''From the North Carolina State Board of Elections'': *

Elaine Marshall Elaine Folk Marshall (born November 18, 1945) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the North Carolina Secretary of State since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman to be elected to statewide offic ...

North Carolina Secretary of State The North Carolina Secretary of State is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of North Carolina, and is fourth in the line of succession to the office of Governor of North Carolina. The se ...

and candidate in 2002 *

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 * Susan Harris, retired accountant * Ken Lewis, attorney * Marcus Williams, attorney * Ann Worthy, former Gaston County Board of Education member

Polling

Results

* Note: Since no candidate received 40% of the vote on May 4, state law allowed a

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock marke ...

(or "second primary") election if requested by the second-place finisher. Cunningham requested such a runoff.

Republican primary

Candidates

, incumbent U.S. Senator * Eddie Burks,

Asheboro Asheboro is a city in and the county seat of Randolph County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 25,012 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Greensboro–High Point metropolitan area of the Piedmont Triad and is home of the sta ...

City Councilman * Brad Jones, businessman * Larry Linney, former State Representative

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

* Michael Beitler (L), lecturer of Bryan School of Business and Economics at the

University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand- ...

(R), incumbent U.S. Senator *

(D),

Campaign

Marshall was endorsed by

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

, The Wilmington Star-News, the

Elizabeth City Daily Advance ''The Daily Advance'' is an American, English-language daily newspaper based in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The newspaper is owned by Cooke Communications. Cooke Communications, a private company led by the son of Jack Kent Cooke, bought ''T ...

and The Southern Pines Pilot. Burr was endorsed by

Greensboro News & Record The ''News & Record'' is an American, English language newspaper with the largest circulation serving Guilford County, North Carolina, and the surrounding region. It is based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and produces local sections for Greensb ...

, and the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Debates

* October 11: Sponsored by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation and moderated by the

Carl Kasell Carl Ray Kasell (; April 2, 1934 – April 17, 2018) was an American radio personality. He was a newscaster for National Public Radio, and later was the official judge and scorekeeper of the weekly news quiz show '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell ...

. It was televised 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, whi ...

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 ...

. * October 14: In

* October 21: Sponsored by N.C. Association of Broadcasters and was moderated by

Judy Woodruff Judy Carline Woodruff (born November 20, 1946) is an American broadcast journalist who has worked in network, cable, and public television news since 1976. She is the anchor and managing editor of ''PBS NewsHour''. Woodruff has covered every presi ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

.http://www.kentucky.com/2010/10/21/1490193/burr-marshall-hold-testy-debate.html#ixzz1406x6Vat

Predictions

Polling

Fundraising

Results

References

External links

North Carolina State Board of Elections

U.S. Congress candidates for North Carolina
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

North Carolina U.S. Senate 2010
from OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions
from

Open Secrets ''Open Secrets'' () is a book of short stories by Alice Munro published by McClelland and Stewart in 1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente buil ...

2010 North Carolina Senate General Election: All Head-to-Head Matchups
graph of multiple polls from ''Pollster.com''
Election 2010: North Carolina Senate
from

Rasmussen Reports Rasmussen Reports is an American polling company founded in 2003. The company engages in political commentary and the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information. Rasmussen Reports conducts nightly tracking, ...

2010 North Carolina Senate Race
from

Real Clear Politics RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an American political news website and polling data aggregator formed in 2000 by former options trader John McIntyre and former advertising agency account executive Tom Bevan. The site features selected political new ...

2010 North Carolina Senate Race
from

CQ Politics Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combine ...

Race profile
from

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

;Debates
North Carolina Democratic Senate Primary Runoff Debate

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 ...

, June 15, 2010 ;Official campaign sites (Archived)
Elaine Marshall for U.S. Senate

Mike Beitler for U.S. Senate

Richard Burr for U.S. Senate
incumbent {{Use mdy dates , date=December 2017

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 ...

2010

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 ...

Background

Democratic primary

Candidates

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

Campaign

Debates

Predictions

Polling

Fundraising

Results

See also

References

External links