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United States Senate election in North Carolina, 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.
2026 →
← 2014
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| U.S. Senate, North Carolina |
|---|
 |
| 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: Thom Tillis (Republican) |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voting in North Carolina |
| Race ratings |
Inside Elections: Tilt Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean Democratic |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020 |
| See also |
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th North Carolina elections, 2020 U.S. Congress elections, 2020 U.S. Senate elections, 2020 U.S. House elections, 2020 |
A Republican Party primary took place on March 3, 2020, in North Carolina to determine which Republican candidate would run in the state's general election on November 3, 2020.
Incumbent Thom Tillis advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. Senate North Carolina.
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
Heading into the election, the incumbent was Thom Tillis (Republican), who was first elected in 2014.
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. North Carolina utilizes a semi-closed primary system. Parties decide who may vote in their respective primaries. Voters may choose a primary ballot without impacting their unaffiliated status.[1][2]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
This page focuses on North Carolina's United States Senate Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the state's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary)
- United States Senate election in North Carolina, 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 U.S. Senate North Carolina
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Thom Tillis | 78.1 | 608,943 |
 | Paul Wright  | 7.6 | 58,908 | |
 | Larry Holmquist | 7.4 | 57,356 | |
 | Sharon Hudson | 7.0 | 54,651 | |
| Total votes: 779,858 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Sandy Smith (R)
- Garland Tucker III (R)
Campaign finance
This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[3] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[4] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thom Tillis | Republican Party | $26,718,700 | $26,370,206 | $834,909 | As of December 31, 2020 |
| Larry Holmquist | Republican Party | $4,385 | $4,770 | $-125 | As of March 19, 2020 |
| Sharon Hudson | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Paul Wright | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
|||||
General election race ratings
- See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:
- Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
- Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
- Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[5]
- Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.
Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[6][7][8]
| Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in North Carolina, 2020 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| November 3, 2020 | October 27, 2020 | October 20, 2020 | October 13, 2020 | ||||||
| The Cook Political Report | Toss-up | Toss-up | Toss-up | Toss-up | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Tilt Democratic | Tilt Democratic | Tilt Democratic | Tilt Democratic | |||||
| Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball | Lean Democratic | Toss-up | Toss-up | Toss-up | |||||
| Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season. | |||||||||
See also
- United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary)
- United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2020
- United States Senate Democratic Party primaries, 2020
- United States Senate Republican Party primaries, 2020
- United States Senate elections, 2020
- U.S. Senate battlegrounds, 2020
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed October 7, 2024
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Election Information," accessed October 7, 2024
- ↑ Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
- ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
