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North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2020 (March 3 Republican primary)
- Primary date: March 3
- Primary type: Semi-closed
- Registration deadline(s): Feb. 7
- Online registration: No
- Same-day registration: Yes
- Early voting starts: Feb. 13
- Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): March 3 (received)
- Voter ID: No ID
- Poll times: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
2024 →
← 2016
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| Governor of North Carolina |
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| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: December 20, 2019 |
| Primary: March 3, 2020 Primary runoff: June 23, 2020 General: November 3, 2020 Pre-election incumbent(s): Gov. Roy Cooper (D) |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voting in North Carolina |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2020 Impact of term limits in 2020 State government trifectas State government triplexes Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020 |
| North Carolina executive elections |
| Governor Lieutenant Governor |
A Republican Party primary took place on March 3, 2020, in North Carolina to determine which candidate would earn the right to run as the party's nominee in the state's gubernatorial election on November 3, 2020.
Dan Forest advanced from the Republican primary for Governor of North Carolina.
This page focuses on North Carolina's Republican gubernatorial primary. For more in-depth information on North Carolina's Democratic gubernatorial primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary)
- North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2020
Election procedure changes in 2020
Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.
North Carolina modified its primary election process as follows:
- Election postponements: The Republican primary runoff for North Carolina's 11th Congressional District was postponed from May 12 to June 23.
- Voting procedures: The witness signature requirement on completed absentee ballots decreased from two to one.
- Political party events: The Republican Party of North Carolina postponed its state convention, originally scheduled for May 14 to June 4.
For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.
Candidates and election results
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of North Carolina
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Dan Forest | 89.0 | 698,077 |
 | Holly Grange | 11.0 | 86,714 | |
| Total votes: 784,791 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
| North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2020 (Republican primary - hypothetical matchup) | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pat McCrory (R) | Dan Forest (R) | Holly Grange (R) | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Civitas Institute December 2-4, 2019 | 42% | 31% | 2% | 25% | +/-4.4 | 500 | |||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
State profile
| Demographic data for North Carolina | ||
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 10,035,186 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 48,618 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 69.5% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 21.5% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 2.5% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 1.2% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.4% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 8.8% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 85.8% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 28.4% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $46,868 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 20.5% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in North Carolina. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
North Carolina voted Republican in six out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, six are located in North Carolina, accounting for 2.91 percent of the total pivot counties.[1]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. North Carolina had six Retained Pivot Counties, 3.31 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More North Carolina coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in North Carolina
- United States congressional delegations from North Carolina
- Public policy in North Carolina
- Endorsers in North Carolina
- North Carolina fact checks
- More...
See also
| North Carolina | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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