The 1984 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1984. Democratic incumbent Jim Hunt was unable to run for another consecutive term under the North Carolina Constitution. Hunt ran instead for the U.S. Senate against Jesse Helms and

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

, although he later announced his campaign for a third gubernatorial term in the 1992 election. Popular 9th District Congressman

James G. Martin James Grubbs Martin (born December 11, 1935) is an American organic chemist and politician who served as the 70th governor of North Carolina from 1985 to 1993. He was the third Republican elected to the office after Reconstruction, and the ...

ran as the Republican nominee against Democratic Attorney General Rufus L. Edmisten, who defeated Hunt's Lt. Governor, James Green, among other candidates, in a hotly contested primary. Martin won by a comfortable margin on Election Day thanks to the surprise endorsement of Green, and to President Ronald Reagan's

coattails The coattail effect or down-ballot effect is the tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election. For example, in the United States, the party of a victorious presidential cand ...

(''see also

1984 United States presidential election The 1984 United States presidential election was the 50th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican President Ronald Reagan defeated Democratic former Vice President Walter Mondale, in ...

''). Martin became just the second Republican elected to the state's highest office in the 20th century. An offhand remark by Edmisten during the 1984 campaign became part of the state's political lore. He was quoted as complaining about all the barbecue pork he had to eat on the campaign trail, saying he could not eat anymore of "that damnable stuff", which is widely popular. Edmisten later said he was joking.WBUR
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Primary election results

Democratic primary

Republican primary

General election results

Footnotes

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 ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Gubernatorial 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 ...

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