special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was held on September 10, 2019, to fill the vacancy in in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for the remainder of the

116th United States Congress The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate, Senate and the United States House of Representati ...

. Walter B. Jones Jr., the

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

representative, died on February 10, 2019. Parties held primaries to decide their nominees. In order to win a party nomination outright, under current state law, a candidate must exceed 30% of the vote to avoid a runoff (presuming that the second-place finisher calls for that runoff). There must be 30 days of absentee voting prior to each election, according to state law. Filing began on March 4 and ended March 8, as set by Governor

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III ( ; born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 75th List of governors of North Carolina, governor of North Carolina from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), De ...

. Twenty-six candidates filed with the State Board of Elections by the filing deadline: 17 Republicans, 6 Democrats, 2

Libertarians Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

, and 1 Constitution Party candidate. All candidates filed are affiliated with a political party. Five candidates advanced after the first primary elections: two Republicans, one Democrat, one Libertarian, and one Constitution Party candidate. Cooper set the primary date of April 30, in which the Democrats selected Allen M. Thomas,

selected Tim Harris, and in the Constitution Party primary businessman Greg Holt won by default, but no Republican achieved 30% of the vote. Voting for the Republican primary runoff occurred on Tuesday, July 9, between two candidates that are both physicians, Greg Murphy and Joan Perry. Approximately 70 minutes after polls closed, Murphy was declared the winner by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. The general election was held on September 10, 2019. Murphy won the seat. With the decision by the State Board of Elections to hold a new election to redo the 2018 U.S. House election in North Carolina's 9th district, this became one of two congressional district special elections in North Carolina in 2019, the other being the 9th district's special election held on the same day. This was the first time two U.S. House special elections were held in the same state on the same day (not on

Election Day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ...

) since the May 3, 2008, elections in Louisiana's 1st district and 6th district.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

* Greg Murphy, member of the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...

from the 9th district

Eliminated in runoff

*Joan Perry, pediatrician

Eliminated in primary

*Kevin Baiko, doctor *Paul Beaumont,

Currituck County Currituck County ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the University of North Ca ...

Commissioner *Graham Boyd, farmer *Celeste Cairns, accountant *Gary Ceres, library technician *Chimer Davis Clark Jr., small businessman *Don Cox, singer *Francis De Luca, former president of

Civitas Institute The Civitas Institute, Inc. (Civitas) was a Raleigh, North Carolina–based conservative think tank. In January 2021, Civitas merged with the John Locke Foundation. History Civitas was incorporated on March 9, 2005. Initial members of the bo ...

*Phil Law, Marine Corps veteran and candidate for U.S. Representative in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

*Jeff Moore, small businessman *Michele Nix, Vice Chair of the

North Carolina Republican Party The North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP) is the affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in North Carolina. Michael Whatley was the chair from 2019 until his election as national chair in March 2024. It is currentl ...

*Mike Payment, Currituck County Commissioner *Eric Rouse, Lenoir County Commissioner * Phil Shepard, member of the

from the 15th district * Michael Speciale, member of the

from the 3rd district

Declined

* Harry Brown, member of the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The Senate ...

from the 6th district and incumbent North Carolina Senate Majority Leader * George G. Cleveland, member of the

from the 14th district *Scott Dacey, former vice-chairman of the Craven County Board of Commissioners and candidate for U.S. Representative in

*Pete Gilbert, Pasquotank County Republican Party Chairman * Ed Goodwin, member of the

from the 1st district *Taylor Griffin, former aide to

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the Conservatism in the United States, conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the ...

and candidate for U.S. Representative in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

* Bobby Hanig, member of the

from the 6th district * Chris Humphrey, member of the

from the 12th district *

Keith Kidwell Keith D. Kidwell (born June 21, 1961) is a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. He has represented the 79th district (including constituents in Beaufort County, North Carolina, Beaufo ...

, member of the

from the 79th district * Pat McElraft, member of the

from the 13th district *Joe McLaughlin, former Onslow County Commissioner, candidate for U.S. Representative in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, candidate for North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance in

, and candidate for state representative in 2018 *Carl Mischka, chairman of the 3rd congressional district Republican Party Executive Committee *Frank Palombo, candidate for U.S. Representative in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

* Norman W. Sanderson, member of the

from the 2nd district *Sandy Smith, small businesswoman * Bob Steinburg, member of the

from the 1st district *Paul Wright, Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor Area 5 Dare County * Ashley Woolard, 2010 Repubulican nominee for US Congress (NC-01) 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina, 2012 US presidential elector NC Third Congressional District

List of 2012 United States presidential electors This is a list of electors (members of the Electoral College (United States), Electoral College) who cast ballots to elect the President of the United States and Vice President of the United States in the 2012 United States presidential election, ...

, former chairman Beaufort County Republican Party

Endorsements

First round

Polling

Results

Runoff

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

* Allen M. Thomas, former mayor of Greenville and executive director of Global TransPark

Eliminated

*Richard Bew, former U.S. Marine Corps colonel *Gregory Humphrey, former journalist *Ike Johnson, Democratic nominee for State House district 14 in 2018 *Dana Outlaw, mayor of

New Bern New Bern, formerly Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 31,291 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located at the confluence of the Neuse River, Neuse a ...

*Ernest T. Reeves, Democratic nominee for

North Carolina's 3rd congressional district North Carolina's 3rd congressional district is located on the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coast of North Carolina. It covers the Outer Banks and the counties adjacent to the Pamlico Sound. The district is currently represented by ...

in 2016

Declined

*Ollie Nelson, retired U.S. Marine, educator, and pastor *George Parrott, businessman * Scott Thomas, District Attorney for North Carolina's 4th prosecutorial district

Endorsements

Results

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

*Shannon Bray, U.S. Navy veteran, author, cybersecurity expert *Tim Harris, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, IT engineer, candidate for

for the 2nd district in 2018

Results

Constitution primary

Candidates

Nominee (by default)

*Greg Holt, businessman

General election

During the early voting period for this election,

Hurricane Dorian Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone, which became the most intense on record to strike The Bahamas. It is tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin in term ...

battered the eastern coast of the United States, necessitating early voting to be halted in several counties on the

Outer Banks The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separatin ...

until the storm had passed. This also happened in the

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

for

North Carolina's 9th congressional district North Carolina's 9th congressional district is a congressional district in south-central North Carolina. The entire counties of Alamance, Hoke, Moore, and Randolph counties as well as portions of Chatham, Cumberland, and Guilford counties ...

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

with generic Republican and generic Democrat

Fundraising

Results

Despite the clear victory, 61.7% is the lowest Republican vote share in this district since

Notes

Partisan clients
Additional candidates

References

External links

Official campaign websites
Greg Holt (C) for Congress

Greg Murphy (R) for Congress

Allen M. Thomas (D) for Congress
{{2019 United States elections North Carolina 03 2019 03 North Carolina 03 United States House of Representatives 03 United States House of Representatives 2019 03 North Carolina 2019 03 September 2019 in the United States

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in runoff

Eliminated in primary

Declined

Endorsements

First round

Polling

Results

Runoff

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated

Declined

Endorsements

Results

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

Results

Constitution primary

Candidates

Nominee (by default)

General election

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

Fundraising

Results

See also

Notes

References

External links