Ken Spaulding
Ken Spaulding was a 2016 Democratic candidate for governor of North Carolina. He announced his candidacy in August 2013 and officially entered the race on December 14, 2015.[1] He was defeated in the Democratic primary election.
Biography
Career
Spaulding is a lawyer in Durham, N.C.[1]
Political career
North Carolina General Assembly
Spaulding is a former state legislator in North Carolina.[1]
Board of Transportation
Spaulding is a former member of the transportation board at the North Carolina Department of Transportation.[1]
Elections
2016
Spaulding declared his candidacy for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2016 to challenge Governor Pat McCrory (R). Spaulding was defeated by Attorney General Roy Cooper in the Democratic primary on March 15, 2016.[1]
| North Carolina Governor Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Roy Cooper |
68.7% | 710,658 | ||
| Ken Spaulding | 31.3% | 323,774 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,034,432 | |||
| Election results via North Carolina State Board of Elections. | ||||
Campaign themes
When he officially entered the race, Spaulding promoted his economic record, particularly his work developing Treyburn Corporate Park and the Southpoint mall in Durham, and criticized Attorney General Roy Cooper's record on education. He said Cooper aligned himself with McCrory when lawyers in his office defended Republican-backed laws ending teacher job protections and implementing taxpayer-funded private school vouchers.[1]
Polls
Hypothetical match-ups
| Governor of North Carolina, McCrory v. Cooper | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pat McCrory (R) | Roy Cooper (D) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling January 18-19, 2015 | 40% | 43% | 17% | +/-3.2 | 948 | ||||||||||||||
| Pat McCrory for Governor January 11-14, 2016 | 49% | 36% | 15% | +/--- | 800 | ||||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 44.5% | 39.5% | 16% | +/-1.6 | 874 | ||||||||||||||
| 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. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Governor of North Carolina, McCrory v. Spaulding | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pat McCrory (R) | Ken Spaulding (D) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling January 18-19, 2015 | 43% | 34% | 22% | +/-3.2 | 948 | ||||||||||||||
| 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. | |||||||||||||||||||
Democratic primary
| Governor of North Carolina, Democratic primary (January 2016) | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Roy Cooper | Ken Spaulding | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling January 18-19, 2016 | 55% | 10% | 35% | +/-4.6 | 461 | ||||||||||||||
| 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. | |||||||||||||||||||
Republican primary
| Governor of North Carolina, Republican primary (January 2016) | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Robert Brawley | Pat McCrory | Charles Moss | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling January 18-19, 2016 | 4% | 68% | 6% | 22% | +/-4.7 | 433 | |||||||||||||
| 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. | |||||||||||||||||||
Campaign finance
According to campaign finance reports, Cooper well outraised Spaulding in the first half of 2015.[1]
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.[2]
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...
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Ken Spaulding North Carolina Governor. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| North Carolina | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Gary D. Robertson, WBT News, "Spaulding officially a candidate for North Carolina governor," December 15, 2015
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
