NORTH CAROLINA
15 Electoral Votes 
link to clickable map
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, North Carolina State Board of Elections)
Total Resident Population, July 1, 2012 est.
9,752,073
Total Registration, Nov. 6, 2012 6,649,188 >

Dem. 2,870,693 (43.17%)   Rep. 2,052,250 (30.86%)   Lib. 19,321   Unaffil. 1,706,924 (25.67%)
White  4,728,843 (71.12%)   Black 1,492,831 (22.45%)   Am. Indian 53,485   Hispanic 113,782   Other 374,029 
North Carolina has: 100 counties.
Five largest counties: Mecklenburg, Wake, Guilford, Forsyth, Cumberland. >
Five largest cities: Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham. >

Government
Governor: Bev Purdue (D) elected in 2008, did not seek re-election in 2012.
State Legislature: North Carolina General Assembly  House: 120 seats  Senate: 50 seats
Local: Cities and Towns, Counties, More  NACO Counties
U.S. House: 7D, 6R - 1. G.K. Butterfield (D) | 2. R.Ellmers (R) | 3. W.B.Jones (R) | 4. D.Price (D) | 5. V.Foxx (R) | 6. H.Coble (R) | 7. M.McIntyre (D) | 8. L.Kissell (D) | 9. S.Myrick (R) | 10. P.McHenry (R) | 11. H.Shuler (D) | 12. M.Watt (D) | 13. B.Miller (D)
U.S. Senate: Kay Hagan (D) elected in 2008, Richard Burr (R) re-elected in 2010. 
2012
Governor: Gov. Bev Purdue (D) announced on Jan. 26, 2011 that she would not seek re-election.  Republicans achieved a pick up as former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory (R) defeated Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton (D) and homemaker and frequent candidate Barbara Howe (L) by 54.62% to 43.23% and 2.12%.
U.S. House: Three members retired: Sue Myrick (R), Heath Shuler (D) and Brad Miller (D). 
Aided by redistricting, Republicans took the balance of the delegation from 7D, 6R to 9R, 4D.
In the 7th CD, Rep. Mike McIntyre (D) defeated David Rouzer (R) by 654 votes, 168,695 (50.10%) to 168,041 (49.90%); this was the closest congressional race in the country. 
In the 8th CD, Richard Hudson (R) defeated two-term Rep. Larry Kissell (D) by 53.16% to 45.37%. 
In the 9th CD, Robert Pittenger (R) defeated Jennifer Roberts (D) by 51.78% to 45.65% and 2.57% to Curtis Campbell (L). 
In the 11th CD, Mark Meadows (R) defeated Hayden Rogers (D) by 57.42% to 42.58%. 
In the 13th CD, George Holding (R) defeated Charles Malone (D) by 56.80% to 43.20%. 
State Legislature: Republicans gained nine seats in the House, going from 68R, 52D to 77R, 43D, while the Senate went from 31R, 19D to 32R, 18D.

 State of North Carolina
State Board of Elections

Libertarian Party of NC
NC Democratic Party
NC Greens
NC Republican Party
Constitution Party of NC

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The Tar Heel State
General Election -- Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Voting Eligible Population*: 6,970,868.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 64.6%.

Voter Registration Deadline: October 12, 2012
One-Stop Voting: October 18-November 3, 2012



Obama
Romney
Election Day
738,784
964,107
Absentee/One Stop
1,426,129
1,297,067
Provisional
13,478
9,221
Total
2,178,391
2,270,395

Straight Party Voting
Democratic: 1,418,430
Republican: 1,110,390
Libertarian:       25,146
Total: 2,553,966

Official Results >

 
Obama/Biden (Dem.)
2,178,391
(48.35)
+Romney/Ryan (Rep.)
2,270,395
(50.39)
Johnson/Gray (Lib.) 44,515
(0.99)
Virgil Goode (w/in)
534
(0.01)
write-ins (misc.)
11,537
(0.26)
Total........4,505,372

ballots cast: 4,542,488.
Overview: Democrats made an early play to keep North Carolina in the blue column, choosing Charlotte to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention.  In contrast to 2008, when the McCain and the Republicans paid relatively little attention to the state until late in the campaign, Romney and the RNC were fully engaged.  North Carolina was a contested battleground state, with full campaign staffs and plenty of ads, although it did not get as many candidate visits as other contested states and was seen as leaning Republican.  By Oct. 18, the News & Observer reported, "Romney campaign begins moving staff out of NC, confident of victory."(+)  Romney-Ryan won with a plurality of 92,004 votes (2.04 percentage points), carrying 70 counties to 30 for the Democratic ticket, and Republicans achieved gains up and down the ballot.
General Election Details
Obama Romney
BALLOT [PDF]

Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Registered Voters: 6,296,759.  Ballots Cast: 2,182,675.  Results
Democrats

+Barack Obama
766,077
79.23%
No Preference
200,810
20.77%
Total 966,887



Republicans
55 Delegates: 3 RNC; 39 at-large; 3 by CD (3 x 1 CD). 
2.41% of the 2,286 Delegates.

Newt Gingrich
74,367
7.64%
Ron Paul
108,217
11.12%
+Mitt Romney
638,601
65.62%
Rick Santorum
101,093
10.39%
no preference
50,928
5.23%
Total 973,206

Specifications for the conduct of the presidential preference primary are set out in the North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 163, Article 18A.

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Voting Eligible Population*: 6,551,412.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 65.8%.


Obama
McCain
Election Day
747,637
1,039,232
Absentee/One Stop
1,382,199
1,077,145
Provisional
12,815
12,097
Total
2,142,651
2,128,474

Official Results >


+Obama/Biden (Dem.)
2,142,651
(49.70)
McCain/Palin (Rep.) 2,128,474
(49.38)
Barr/Root (Lib.)
25,722
(0.60)
write ins
13,942
(0.32)
Total........4,310,789



2008 Overview
Obama-Biden carried North Carolina for the Democrats for the first time since 1976, but it was close, by a plurality of just 14,177 votes (0.32 percentage points).  Obama carried 33 counties to 67 for McCain. 
General Election Details
Obama/Allies  |  McCain/Allies  |  Nader

useful report -PDF

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Voting Eligible Population*: 6,055,771.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 57.8%.


Registration:
Dem. 2,582,462 (46.78%)   Rep. 1,903,199 (34.48%)   Lib. 12,754 (0.23%)   Unaffil. 1,021,648 (18.51%)   ...Total 5,519,992
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
1,961,166 
(56.02)
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
1,525,849 
(43.58)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.) 11,731 (0.34)
Ralph Nader (w/in)
1,805 
(0.05)
Brown/Herbert (w/in)
348 
(0.01)
David Cobb (w/in)
108 
Total........3,501,007
 




2004 Overview
The Democratic ticket has not carried North Carolina since Jimmy Carter did in 1976, but Sen. Kerry's selection of Sen. Edwards as his running mate put the Tar Heel State into play.  However the result was nearly the same as in 2000, as Bush amassed a plurality of 435,317 votes (12.44 percentage points).
General Election Details
Kerry/Allies  |  Bush-Cheney '04

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000
Voting Eligible Population*: 5,744,241.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 50.7%.


Registration: Dem. 2,588,137 (49.9%)   Rep. 1,765,476 (34.0%)   Lib. 6,909 (0.1%)   Ref. 254  Unaffil. 831,857 (16.0%)   ...5,186,094.

Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
1,257,692
(43.20)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
1,631,163
(56.03)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
12,307
(0.42)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)
8,874
(0.30)
McReynolds/Hollis
1,226
(0.04)
Total........2,911,262

In 1999, the NC General Assembly passed legislation to allow in-person, no-excuse absentee voting.  A voter could vote at any designated Absentee One-Stop voting site in his or her county from Oct. 16 to Nov. 3, 2000. 393,152 people did so.  In addition there were 72,447 civilian absentee by mail votes and 3,766 military absentee returns.

2000 Overview
North Carolina, which went Republican by a very narrow margin in 1992, and a close but wider margin in 1996, went solidly into the GOP column in 2000, as Bush-Cheney secured a plurality of 373,471 votes (12.83 percentage points).  Bush carried 75 counties to 25 for Gore.  Bush won every county in the western part of the state and all the counties along the coast; Gore carried a cluster of 8 counties in the SE and another cluster of 17 counties in the NE.  North Carolina did not see much activity at the presidential level, with the exception of the second presidential debate, held on Oct. 11 at Wake Forest University.
General Election Activity

Notes: North Carolina's onerous ballot access requirements -- 51,324 signatures by May 17, 2000 -- resulted in a limited range of choices for the state's voters.  After the Nader campaign fell short, it went to court seeking an injunction to put him on the ballot.  U.S. District Judge W. Earl Britt turned down their request (Aug. 9 ruling), and an appeal to the 4th Circuit likewise proved unsuccessful (Sept. 15).

1992 and 1996 General Elections
Archive Pages: 2008 | 2004 | 2000 1992
Bush (Rep.)..........1,134,661
(43.34)
Clinton (Dem.).......1,114,042
(42.65)
Perot (Unaff.)...........357,864
(13.70)
Others (Marrou+w/ins).5,283 
(0.21)
Total........2,611,850

1996
Dole (Rep.)...........1,225,938
(48.73)
Clinton (Dem.).......1,107,849
(44.04)
Perot (Ref.)..............168,059
(6.68)
Others (2+w/ins)........13,961
(0.55)
Total........2,515,807