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December 13, 2012

By Greg Janetka

State Executive Officials

Raleigh, North Carolina: Ten state executive positions were up for election this year in the state of North Carolina. Gov. Bev Perdue (D) chose not to seek re-election while Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton (D) made a play for her open seat. The other eight incumbents all ran for, and won, re-election on November 6, 2012.

Here are the candidates who won election.^[1]

Office	Incumbent	General Election Candidates	2015 Winner	Partisan Switch?
Governor	Bev Perdue	Walter Dalton Pat McCrory Barbara Howe	Pat McCrory	Yes
Lieutenant Governor	Walter Dalton	Linda Coleman Dan Forest	Dan Forest	Yes
Secretary of State	Elaine Marshall	Elaine Marshall Ed Goodwin	Elaine Marshall	No
Attorney General	Roy Cooper	Roy Cooper	Roy Cooper	No
Treasurer	Janet Cowell	Janet Cowell Steve Royal	Janet Cowell	No
Auditor	Beth Wood	Beth Wood Debra Goldman	Beth Wood	No
Superintendent of Public Instruction	June Atkinson	June Atkinson John Tedesco	June Atkinson	No
Commissioner of Agriculture	Steve Troxler	Walter Smith Steve Troxler	Steve Troxler	No
Commissioner of Insurance	Wayne Goodwin	Wayne Goodwin Mike Causey	Wayne Goodwin	No
Commissioner of Labor	Cherie Berry	John C. Brooks Cherie Berry	Cherie Berry	No

Official Results

Governor

See also: North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2012

Governor of North Carolina General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Walter Dalton	43.2%	1,931,580
	Republican	Pat McCrory	54.6%	2,440,707
	Libertarian	Barbara Howe	2.1%	94,652
	Write-in	Various	0%	1,356
Total Votes				4,468,295
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

Lt. Governor

See also: North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2012

Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Linda Coleman	49.9%	2,180,870
	Republican	Dan Forest	50.1%	2,187,728
Total Votes				4,368,598
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

Attorney General

See also: North Carolina attorney general election, 2012

Attorney General of North Carolina General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Roy Cooper Incumbent	100%	2,828,941
Total Votes				2,828,941
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

Secretary of State

See also: North Carolina secretary of state election, 2012

North Carolina Secretary of State General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Elaine Marshall Incumbent	53.8%	2,331,173
	Republican	Ed Goodwin	46.2%	2,003,026
Total Votes				4,334,199
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

Treasurer

See also: North Carolina down ballot state executive elections, 2012

North Carolina Treasurer General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Janet Cowell Incumbent	53.8%	2,313,877
	Republican	Steve Royal	46.2%	1,984,827
Total Votes				4,298,704
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

Auditor

See also: North Carolina down ballot state executive elections, 2012

North Carolina State Auditor General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Beth Wood Incumbent	53.7%	2,299,541
	Republican	Debra Goldman	46.3%	1,981,539
Total Votes				4,281,080
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

Superintendent of Public Instruction

See also: North Carolina down ballot state executive elections, 2012

North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	June Atkinson Incumbent	54.2%	2,336,441
	Republican	John Tedesco	45.8%	1,971,049
Total Votes				4,307,490
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

Commissioner of Agriculture

See also: North Carolina down ballot state executive elections, 2012

North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Walter Smith	46.8%	2,025,054
	Republican	Steve Troxler Incumbent	53.2%	2,303,586
Total Votes				4,328,640
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

Commissioner of Insurance

See also: North Carolina down ballot state executive elections, 2012

North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Wayne Goodwin Incumbent	51.9%	2,226,344
	Republican	Mike Causey	48.1%	2,066,601
Total Votes				4,292,945
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

Commissioner of Labor

See also: North Carolina down ballot state executive elections, 2012

North Carolina Commissioner of Labor General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John C. Brooks	46.7%	2,019,266
	Republican	Cherie Berry Incumbent	53.3%	2,300,500
Total Votes				4,319,766
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

National picture

States with 2012 executive elections

There were 94 total seats up for election across 22 states this year, including 11 Governors, 9 Lt. Governors, 10 Attorneys General, 7 Secretaries of State and 57 down ballot seats.

Before the election, 51 of these offices were held by Democrats, 38 were held by Republicans, and the remaining 4 positions were held by non partisan or Independent officers . After the election, Democrats hold 49 (net loss of 2 seats), Republicans 42 (net gain of 4 seats), and Independents/non partisans only 1 (loss of 3).
Of the 69 incumbents who ran for election in 2012, 7 were defeated-6 Democrat and 1 Republican. Democratic Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau narrowly escaped that fate, having had to wait for her challenger to cancel a self-financed recount on December 11, 2012 before being named the official winner.^[2]
Out of 25 total open seats, 13 were won by Democrats, 11 went to Republican, and 1 went to an Independent (nonpartisan) candidate. In all, there are 34 new state executives as a result of the election.
From the gubernatorial perspective, after the November 2012 election, there are 30 Republican and 19 Democratic governors.^[3] If the GOP had taken five governor seats from Democrats on November 6, that would have given the party 34 -- the most for Republicans since 1922. As of December 2012, the number of Democratic governors in the country is at its lowest since 2001.

2012 State Executive Election Partisan Breakdown
Party	Before 2012 Election	After 2012 Election	Net Change
Democratic	51	50	-1
Republican	38	43	+5
Independent (Nonpartisan)	4	1	-3
TOTALS	93^{1 vacant}	94

2012 State Executive Election Analysis
Party	Open Seat Winners	Defeated Incumbents	New State Executives
Democratic	13	6	15
Republican	11	1	18
Independent (Nonpartisan)	1	0	1
TOTALS	25	7	34

See also

Footnotes

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