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North Carolina State Senate elections, 2018
- General election: Nov. 6
- Voter registration deadline: Oct. 12
- Early voting: Oct. 17 - Nov. 3
- Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 6
- Online registration: No
- Same-day registration: No
- Voter ID: No
- Poll times: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
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2020 →
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| 2018 North Carolina Senate elections | |
|---|---|
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| General | November 6, 2018 |
| Primary runoff | June 26, 2018 |
| Primary | May 8, 2018 |
| Past election results |
| 2016・2014・2012・2010・2008 2006・2004・2002・2000 |
| 2018 elections | |
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| Choose a chamber below: | |
Republicans maintained their majority in the North Carolina State Senate in the November 6, 2018, elections, winning 29 seats to Democrats' 21. Democrats, however, broke the Republican supermajority in the chamber by keeping them below 30 seats. All 50 Senate seats were up for election in 2018.
Heading into the elections, Republicans had a 34-15 majority. The seat previously held by Republican David Curtis was vacant. Democrats needed to win six seats to break Republicans' three-fifths supermajority, the margin necessary to override gubernatorial vetoes. After Roy Cooper (D) defeated incumbent Pat McCrory (R) for governor in 2016, the Republican-controlled General Assembly of North Carolina and Cooper came into conflict. In the 2017 and 2018 legislative sessions, Cooper vetoed a number of bills he said limited his power as governor. The Republican supermajority overrode Cooper's vetoes and argued that they were returning power to the legislative branch after previous Democratic governors had taken it away. Read about the conflict more below.
- Democrats also broke the Republican supermajority by winning more than four seats in the state House, which Republicans controlled 75-45. Read more about the state House races here.
The state legislative district lines used in 2016 were changed in 2017 due to a federal court ruling that nine state Senate districts and 19 state House districts in the previous map were racially gerrymandered. The General Assembly enacted new maps in August 2017 that were later revised by a court-appointed special master. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a partial stay in February 2018, allowing a limited number of the special master's revised districts to go into effect. Read more about the redistricting below.
Ballotpedia identified 13 of the redrawn Senate districts as battlegrounds. One Democratic incumbent and 11 Republican incumbents ran for the battleground seats. Of the 13 battlegrounds, Republicans won seven races to Democrats' six.
- Click here to see all of the general election matchups
- Click here to read more about the battleground races
North Carolina came under divided government when Cooper (D) defeated McCrory (R) for the governorship in 2016. This broke the state's Republican trifecta that formed after the 2012 elections when McCrory was first elected. North Carolina's state House and state Senate both came under Republican control in the 2010 elections. Prior to that, North Carolina had been a Democratic trifecta since 1999. Heading into the 2018 elections, 16 states were under divided government, eight states were Democratic trifectas, and 26 states were Republican trifectas.
Heading into the election, North Carolina was one one of three states where a governor faced a veto-proof state legislature controlled by the opposite party. The others were Massachusetts and Maryland, where Govs. Charlie Baker (R-Mass.) and Larry Hogan (R-Md.), respectively, faced Democratic supermajorities. Read more here.
The North Carolina State Senate was one of 87 state legislative chambers with elections in 2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country. North Carolina state senators serve two-year terms, with all seats up for election every two years.
For more information about the Democratic primaries, click here.
For more information about the Republican primaries, click here.
Post-election analysis
- See also: State legislative elections, 2018
The Republican Party maintained control of both chambers of the General Assembly of North Carolina in the 2018 election but lost supermajority status in each. In the state Senate, all 50 seats were up for election. The Republican North Carolina State Senate majority was reduced from 35-15 to 29-21. The party needed 30 seats to maintain a supermajority. One Democratic incumbent and one Republican incumbent were defeated in the primary. Five Republican incumbents were defeated in the general election.
The North Carolina House of Representatives held elections for all 120 seats. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives was reduced from 75-45 to 65-55. The party needed 72 seats to maintain a supermajority. Two Democratic incumbents and two Republican incumbents were defeated in the primary. Eleven incumbents were defeated in the general election; two Democrats and nine Republicans.
National background
On November 6, 2018, 87 of the nation's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly scheduled elections for 6,073 of 7,383 total seats, meaning that nearly 82 percent of all state legislative seats were up for election.
- Entering the 2018 election, Democrats held 42.6 percent, Republicans held 56.8 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.6 percent of the seats up for regular election.
- Following the 2018 election, Democrats held 47.3 percent, Republicans held 52.3 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.4 percent of the seats up for regular election.
- A total of 469 incumbents were defeated over the course of the election cycle, with roughly one-third of them defeated in the primary.
Want more information?
- Incumbents defeated in 2018's state legislative elections
- 2018 election analysis: Partisan balance of state legislative chambers
- 2018 election analysis: Number of state legislators by party
- 2018 election analysis: State legislative supermajorities
Districts
Use the interactive map below to find your district.
Candidates
General election candidates
Primary candidates
Due to a 2016 redistricting order, some primary races featured multiple incumbents running in the same race.
Margins of victory
A margin of victory (MOV) analysis for the 2018 North Carolina State Senate races is presented in this section. MOV represents the percentage of total votes that separated the winner and the second-place finisher. For example, if the winner of a race received 47 percent of the vote and the second-place finisher received 45 percent of the vote, the MOV is 2 percent.
The table below presents the following figures for each party:
- Elections won
- Elections won by less than 10 percentage points
- Elections won without opposition
- Average margin of victory[1]
| North Carolina State Senate: 2018 Margin of Victory Analysis | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Elections won | Elections won by less than 10% | Unopposed elections | Average margin of victory[1] |
| Total | ||||
The margin of victory in each race is presented below. The list is sorted from the closest MOV to the largest (including unopposed races).
Seats flipped
The below map displays each seat in the North Carolina State Senate which changed partisan hands as a result of the 2018 elections, shaded according to the partisan affiliation of the winner in 2018. Hover over a shaded district for more information.
| State legislative seats flipped in 2018, North Carolina State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| District | Incumbent | 2018 winner | Direction of flip |
| North Carolina State Senate District 15 | R to D | ||
| North Carolina State Senate District 17 | R to D | ||
| North Carolina State Senate District 19 | R to D | ||
| North Carolina State Senate District 27 | R to D | ||
| North Carolina State Senate District 41 | R to D | ||
| North Carolina State Senate District 9 | R to D | ||
Incumbents retiring
Five incumbents did not run for re-election in 2018.[2] Those incumbents were:
| Name | Party | Office |
|---|---|---|
| William Cook | Senate District 1 | |
| Ronald Rabin | Senate District 12 | |
| Chad Barefoot | Senate District 18 | |
| Cathy Dunn | Senate District 33 | |
| Tommy Tucker | Senate District 35 |
Battleground races
Ballotpedia identified 13 battleground races in the North Carolina State Senate 2018 elections, including 11 districts where Republican incumbents filed to run and one district where a Democratic incumbent filed to run. Based on analysis by outside organizations, these races had the potential to be more competitive than other races and could possibly have led to shifts in a chamber's partisan balance.
We identified these battlegrounds using the Civitas Partisan Index (CPI), a district competitiveness measure developed by the Raleigh-based Civitas Institute. The CPI measure shows how a district voted compared to the state average. For example, an R+2 score means a district voted 2 percentage points more Republican than the state as a whole. The 2016 CPI measures were calculated using statewide voting data from the 2016 elections applied to the state legislative map after the districts were redrawn in 2017.[3]
All Senate districts with a CPI between R+5 and D+5 were included on our battleground list. In the table below, a bolded name indicates the winner of an election.
| 2018 North Carolina Senate Battlegrounds | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Other(s) | CPI | |||||
| 1 | D. Cole Phelps | Bob Steinburg | R+2 | ||||
| 5 | Donald Davis (i) | Kimberly Robb | D+5 | ||||
| 7 | David B. Brantley | Louis Pate (i) | R+1 | ||||
| 9 | Harper Peterson | Michael Lee (i) | R+1 | ||||
| 11 | Albert Pacer | Rick Horner (i) | Ethan Bickley (L) | R+4 | |||
| 13 | John Campbell | Danny Earl Britt (i) | D+3 | ||||
| 17 | Sam Searcy | Tamara Barringer (i) | Bruce Basson (L) | R+3 | |||
| 18 | Mack Paul | John Alexander (i) | Brad Hessel (L) | R+2 | |||
| 19 | Kirk deViere | Wesley Meredith (i) | D+3 | ||||
| 24 | J.D. Wooten | Rick Gunn (i) | R+5 | ||||
| 25 | Helen Probst Mills | Tom McInnis (i) | R+3 | ||||
| 27 | Michael Garrett | Trudy Wade (i) | R+3 | ||||
| 41 | Natasha Marcus | Jeff Tarte (i) | D+0 | ||||
Generic polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
| North Carolina state legislative elections generic poll | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Poll sponsor | Democratic candidate | Republican candidate | Other | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||
| SurveyUSA (Oct. 2-6, 2018) | Spectrum News North Carolina | 47% | 42% | 2% | 9% | +/-4.4 | 561 | ||||||||||||
| 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. | |||||||||||||||||||
North Carolina political history
Party control
2018
In the 2018 elections, Republicans maintained control of the North Carolina State Senate.
| North Carolina State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 6, 2018 | After November 7, 2018 | |
| Democratic Party | 15 | 21 | |
| Republican Party | 35 | 29 | |
| Total | 50 | 50 | |
2016
In the 2016 elections, Republicans maintained control of the North Carolina State Senate.
| North Carolina State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 7, 2016 | After November 8, 2016 | |
| Democratic Party | 16 | 15 | |
| Republican Party | 34 | 35 | |
| Total | 50 | 50 | |
Trifectas
A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. Democrats held a state government trifecta for 14 years between 1992 and 2017. During that same period of time, Republicans held a trifecta for four years.
North Carolina Party Control: 1992-2025
Fourteen years of Democratic trifectas • Four years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
| Senate | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Political context of the 2018 elections
Redistricting in North Carolina
In June 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a federal district court decision finding that 28 state legislative districts had been subject to an illegal racial gerrymander. The district court then ordered state lawmakers to draft remedial maps for use in the 2018 election cycle. The General Assembly of North Carolina adopted new state House and Senate district maps on August 30, 2017. On October 26, 2017, the district court appointed a special master "to assist the Court in further evaluating and, if necessary, redrawing" the revised district maps. On January 19, 2018, the district court issued an order adopting the special master's recommendations. On February 6, 2018, the Supreme Court issued a partial stay against the district court's order.
| North Carolina redistricting case timeline | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | |||||||
| May 19, 2015 | North Carolina v. Covington filed with the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. | |||||||
| August 11, 2016 | The federal court ordered 28 state legislative district maps in North Carolina to be redrawn because they misrepresented the racial groups living in the districts. | |||||||
| November 29, 2016 | The federal court ordered special elections to be held in 2017 with newly redrawn district maps. | |||||||
| December 30, 2016 | Republican legislators in North Carolina appealed the federal court decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. | |||||||
| January 10, 2017 | The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily halted the federal court ruling and put the special elections on hold. | |||||||
| June 5, 2017 | The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the federal court decision in North Carolina v. Covington. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the federal court to reconsider whether special elections were warranted. | |||||||
| July 31, 2017 | The United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that special elections would not be held prior to the 2018 general election. | |||||||
| August 10, 2017 | The North Carolina state Legislature adopted criteria for the new state legislative district map. | |||||||
| August 30, 2017 | The North Carolina state Legislature adopted new House and Senate district maps. | |||||||
| October 26, 2017 | The United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina appointed a special master to revise the maps. | |||||||
| December 1, 2017 | Nate Persily, the special master, issued his final recommendations on the district maps. | |||||||
| January 19, 2018 | The district court issued an order adopting Persily's recommendations. | |||||||
| February 6, 2018 | The Supreme Court issued a partial stay against the district court's order. | |||||||
| Click here read more about the 2017-2018 redistricting process | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Conflicts with the General Assembly of North Carolina
The 2016 election changed the political landscape of North Carolina. Before the election, Republicans held a state government trifecta, meaning they controlled the governor's office and both chambers of the legislature. As a result of the 2016 election, however, Democrats took control of the governor's office, while Republicans held a 35-15 majority in the Senate and a 74-46 majority in the House, giving them the three-fifths majority needed in each chamber to override gubernatorial vetoes. In losing the 2016 election, incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory (R) became the first North Carolina governor in North Carolina history to lose in a bid for re-election. He was defeated by North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper (D) by 10,263 votes. McCrory did not concede the race until almost a month after the election. He requested a recount since unofficial vote totals had him within 10,000 votes of Cooper.[50]
Following McCrory's concession, conflicts began to emerge between Cooper and the General Assembly of North Carolina. Before Cooper (D) was sworn in, the Republican-controlled legislature began passing legislation that Democrats argued was intended to curtail the governor's power. Legislation included efforts to restructure the state board of elections, to require Senate approval of cabinet-level appointments, and to decrease the number of governor-appointed judges on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue (D) said of the legislation, "What we’re dealing with is a political disaster. Let’s deal with the reality: It’s a power grab. If McCrory had won the election, we wouldn’t be here now, reducing the number of positions he has control over."[51] Cooper said that the legislation had been "unconstitutional and anything but bipartisan."[52]
Republicans maintained that the legislation had been discussed for years and that it was returning power to the legislature that was taken away by Democrats years before.[53] Sen. Chad Barefoot (R) said the legislation returned "power that was grabbed during Democratic administrations in the 1990s, and some in the '70s."[54] Republican Rep. David Lewis said of the legislation, "I think, to be candid with you, that you will see the General Assembly look to reassert its constitutional authority in areas that may have been previously delegated to the executive branch."[55]
| Fact checks: | |
|---|---|
| • Did recent bills limit North Carolina's gubernatorial powers? | |
| • Did the North Carolina legislature eliminate state supreme court oversight of the General Assembly? | |
The following timeline details some of the conflicts between Gov. Roy Cooper (D) and the General Assembly of North Carolina during Cooper's first two years in office. Some legislation highlighted in the timeline are bills that Cooper said were intended to undermine his authority as governor.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wave election analysis
- See also: Wave elections (1918-2016)
The term wave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?
Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from President Woodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 to Donald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016. We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.
Applying this definition to state legislative elections, we found that Republicans needed to lose 494 seats for 2018 to qualify as a wave election.
The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 10 state legislative waves from 1918 to 2016. Click here to read the full report.
| State legislative wave elections | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | President | Party | Election type | State legislative seats change | Elections analyzed[57] | |
| 1932 | Hoover | R | Presidential | -1,022 | 7,365 | |
| 1922 | Harding | R | First midterm | -907 | 6,907 | |
| 1966 | Johnson | D | First midterm[58] | -782 | 7,561 | |
| 1938 | Roosevelt | D | Second midterm | -769 | 7,179 | |
| 1958 | Eisenhower | R | Second midterm | -702 | 7,627 | |
| 2010 | Obama | D | First midterm | -702 | 7,306 | |
| 1974 | Ford | R | Second midterm[59] | -695 | 7,481 | |
| 1920 | Wilson | D | Presidential | -654 | 6,835 | |
| 1930 | Hoover | R | Presidential | -640 | 7,361 | |
| 1954 | Eisenhower | R | First midterm | -494 | 7,513 | |
Candidate and office information
Process to become a candidate
For partisan candidates
See statutes: Chapter 163, Article 10, Section 106 of the North Carolina General Statutes
A partisan candidate must be registered as an affiliate of the party with which he or she intends to campaign. A partisan candidate must also do the following:[60]
- file a notice of candidacy with the appropriate board of elections (state or county-level)
- file a felony conviction disclosure form
- provide for payment of required filing fees
Filing fees for primary elections are established by Chapter 163, Article 10, Section 107, of the North Carolina General Statutes. Filing fees formulas are summarized in the table below.[61]
| Filing fees | |
|---|---|
| Office | How the fee is determined |
| Governor | 1% of the office's annual salary |
| Lieutenant governor | 1% of the office's annual salary |
| State executive offices | 1% of the office's annual salary |
| United States Senator | 1% of the office's annual salary |
| United States Representative | 1% of the office's annual salary |
| State senator | 1% of the office's annual salary |
| State representative | 1% of the office's annual salary |
For independent candidates
See statutes: Chapter 163, Article 11, Section 122 of the North Carolina General Statutes
An unaffiliated candidate must file the same forms and pay the same filing fees as partisan candidates. In addition, the candidate must petition to appear on the ballot. Signature requirements are as follows (additional petition requirements are discussed below).[62][63]
| Signature requirements for independent candidates | |
|---|---|
| Office | Signature requirement formula |
| Governor, United States Senator, and other statewide offices | 1.5% of the total number of voters who voted in the most recent general election for governor (must include at least 200 signatures from each of three congressional districts) |
| United States Representative | 1.5% of the total number of registered voters in the district as of January 1 of the election year |
| State legislative seats (including those that cover more than one county) | 4% of the total number of registered voters in the district as of January 1 of the election year |
For write-in candidates
See statutes: Chapter 163, Article 11, Section 123 of the North Carolina General Statutes
To be certified, a write-in candidate must submit a declaration of intent and petition. Signature requirements are as follows (additional petition requirements are discussed below).[64]
| Signature requirements for write-in candidates | |
|---|---|
| Office | Required number of signatures |
| Governor, United States Senator, and other statewide offices | 500 |
| United States Representative; state house and state senate seats for districts that cover more than one county | 250 |
| State house and state senate seats for districts that lie within one county | If there are 5,000 or more registered voters in the district, 100 signatures; if fewer than 5,000, 1% of the number of registered voters |
Petitions are due on noon 90 days before the general election.[65] Write-in candidates do not have to pay filing fees.[65]
Qualifications
Article 2, Section 6 of the North Carolina Constitution states: Each Senator, at the time of his election, shall be not less than 25 years of age, shall be a qualified voter of the State, and shall have resided in the State as a citizen for two years and in the district for which he is chosen for one year immediately preceding his election.
Salaries and per diem
- See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
| State legislative salaries, 2024[66] | |
|---|---|
| Salary | Per diem |
| $13,951/year | $104/day |
When sworn in
North Carolina legislators assume office on January 1 the year after their election.[67]
Competitiveness
Every year, Ballotpedia uses official candidate lists from each state to examine the competitiveness of every state legislative race in the country. Nationally, there has been a steady decline in electoral competitiveness since 2010. Most notable is that the number of districts with general election competition has dropped by more than 10 percent.
Results from 2016
Click here to read the full study »
Historical context
Uncontested elections: In 2014, 32.8 percent of Americans lived in states with an uncontested state senate election. Similarly, 40.4 percent of Americans lived in states with uncontested house elections. Primary elections were uncontested even more frequently, with 61 percent of people living in states with no contested primaries. Uncontested elections often occur in locations that are so politically one-sided that the result of an election would be a foregone conclusion regardless of whether it was contested or not.
Open seats: In most cases, an incumbent will run for re-election, which decreases the number of open seats available. In 2014, 83 percent of the 6,057 seats up for election saw the incumbent running for re-election. The states that impose term limits on their legislatures typically see a higher percentage of open seats in a given year because a portion of incumbents in each election are forced to leave office. Overall, the number of open seats decreased from 2012 to 2014, dropping from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 17.0 percent in 2014.
Incumbent win rates: Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of elections between 1972 and 2014 documented the high propensity for incumbents to win re-election in state legislative elections. In fact, since 1972, the win rate for incumbents had not dropped below 90 percent—with the exception of 1974, when 88 percent of incumbents were re-elected to their seats. Perhaps most importantly, the win rate for incumbents generally increased over time. In 2014, 96.5 percent of incumbents were able to retain their seats. Common convention holds that incumbents are able to leverage their office to maintain their seat. However, the high incumbent win rate may actually be a result of incumbents being more likely to hold seats in districts that are considered safe for their party.
Marginal primaries: Often, competitiveness is measured by examining the rate of elections that have been won by amounts that are considered marginal (5 percent or less). During the 2014 election, 90.1 percent of primary and general election races were won by margins higher than 5 percent. Interestingly, it is usually the case that only one of the two races—primary or general—will be competitive at a time. This means that if a district's general election is competitive, typically one or more of the district's primaries were won by more than 5 percent. The reverse is also true: If a district sees a competitive primary, it is unlikely that the general election for that district will be won by less than 5 percent. Primaries often see very low voter turnout in comparison to general elections. In 2014, there were only 27 million voters for state legislative primaries, but approximately 107 million voters for the state legislative general elections.
Pivot Counties
- See also: Pivot Counties by state
Six of 100 North Carolina counties—6 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.
| Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | Trump margin of victory in 2016 | Obama margin of victory in 2012 | Obama margin of victory in 2008 | ||||
| Bladen County, North Carolina | 9.39% | 1.97% | 2.07% | ||||
| Gates County, North Carolina | 9.07% | 4.11% | 5.22% | ||||
| Granville County, North Carolina | 2.49% | 4.54% | 6.58% | ||||
| Martin County, North Carolina | 0.43% | 4.65% | 4.64% | ||||
| Richmond County, North Carolina | 9.74% | 2.95% | 1.50% | ||||
| Robeson County, North Carolina | 4.27% | 17.41% | 13.78% | ||||
In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won North Carolina with 49.8 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 46.2 percent. In presidential elections between 1792 and 2016, North Carolina voted Democratic 53.5 percent of the time and Republican 25 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, North Carolina voted Republican all five times with the exception of the 2008 presidential election.[68]
Presidential results by legislative district
The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Senate districts in North Carolina. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[69][70]
| In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 17 out of 50 state Senate districts in North Carolina with an average margin of victory of 35.7 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 19 out of 50 state Senate districts in North Carolina with an average margin of victory of 33.2 points. Clinton won one district controlled by a Republican heading into the 2018 elections. |
| In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 33 out of 50 state Senate districts in North Carolina with an average margin of victory of 21.5 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 31 out of 50 state Senate districts in North Carolina with an average margin of victory of 26.7 points. Trump won two districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections. |
| 2016 presidential results by state Senate District | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Obama | Romney | 2012 Margin | Clinton | Trump | 2016 Margin | Party Control |
| 1 | 43.26% | 55.67% | R+12.4 | 37.38% | 59.92% | R+22.5 | R |
| 2 | 35.94% | 63.19% | R+27.3 | 33.05% | 64.48% | R+31.4 | R |
| 3 | 63.01% | 36.58% | D+26.4 | 59.43% | 39.33% | D+20.1 | D |
| 4 | 67.51% | 32.09% | D+35.4 | 65.15% | 33.54% | D+31.6 | D |
| 5 | 63.65% | 35.80% | D+27.8 | 61.49% | 36.72% | D+24.8 | D |
| 6 | 36.88% | 62.08% | R+25.2 | 31.75% | 65.03% | R+33.3 | R |
| 7 | 37.37% | 61.88% | R+24.5 | 37.53% | 59.94% | R+22.4 | R |
| 8 | 42.17% | 57.01% | R+14.8 | 36.66% | 61.00% | R+24.3 | R |
| 9 | 45.81% | 52.96% | R+7.2 | 45.45% | 50.93% | R+5.5 | R |
| 10 | 39.54% | 59.72% | R+20.2 | 36.04% | 62.07% | R+26 | R |
| 11 | 39.98% | 59.22% | R+19.2 | 38.97% | 58.71% | R+19.7 | R |
| 12 | 40.13% | 58.88% | R+18.7 | 37.00% | 60.22% | R+23.2 | R |
| 13 | 53.78% | 45.44% | D+8.3 | 43.72% | 54.55% | R+10.8 | R |
| 14 | 77.27% | 21.90% | D+55.4 | 76.47% | 20.93% | D+55.5 | D |
| 15 | 46.00% | 52.81% | R+6.8 | 52.21% | 43.83% | D+8.4 | R |
| 16 | 61.83% | 36.35% | D+25.5 | 66.52% | 29.28% | D+37.2 | D |
| 17 | 46.44% | 52.27% | R+5.8 | 51.56% | 44.22% | D+7.3 | R |
| 18 | 46.70% | 52.22% | R+5.5 | 45.74% | 51.12% | R+5.4 | R |
| 19 | 49.85% | 49.35% | D+0.5 | 46.26% | 50.88% | R+4.6 | R |
| 20 | 75.51% | 23.78% | D+51.7 | 74.85% | 23.04% | D+51.8 | D |
| 21 | 69.17% | 30.12% | D+39 | 66.85% | 30.53% | D+36.3 | D |
| 22 | 62.66% | 36.31% | D+26.4 | 65.29% | 31.94% | D+33.3 | D |
| 23 | 64.61% | 34.16% | D+30.4 | 67.39% | 29.67% | D+37.7 | D |
| 24 | 39.12% | 59.99% | R+20.9 | 38.01% | 59.54% | R+21.5 | R |
| 25 | 41.89% | 57.23% | R+15.3 | 35.27% | 62.78% | R+27.5 | R |
| 26 | 40.13% | 58.96% | R+18.8 | 40.59% | 56.68% | R+16.1 | R |
| 27 | 44.65% | 54.44% | R+9.8 | 47.03% | 50.11% | R+3.1 | R |
| 28 | 82.41% | 16.94% | D+65.5 | 80.71% | 17.22% | D+63.5 | D |
| 29 | 30.18% | 68.92% | R+38.7 | 27.44% | 70.02% | R+42.6 | R |
| 30 | 29.12% | 69.64% | R+40.5 | 22.03% | 75.67% | R+53.6 | R |
| 31 | 36.05% | 62.88% | R+26.8 | 37.43% | 59.26% | R+21.8 | R |
| 32 | 69.92% | 29.30% | D+40.6 | 68.53% | 28.92% | D+39.6 | D |
| 33 | 30.89% | 68.04% | R+37.1 | 25.95% | 71.64% | R+45.7 | R |
| 34 | 35.05% | 63.93% | R+28.9 | 29.82% | 67.73% | R+37.9 | R |
| 35 | 35.14% | 63.89% | R+28.7 | 33.59% | 63.17% | R+29.6 | R |
| 36 | 38.32% | 60.64% | R+22.3 | 37.48% | 59.53% | R+22 | R |
| 37 | 65.56% | 33.27% | D+32.3 | 67.80% | 28.06% | D+39.7 | D |
| 38 | 79.06% | 20.23% | D+58.8 | 77.81% | 19.76% | D+58 | D |
| 39 | 40.90% | 58.27% | R+17.4 | 50.13% | 46.06% | D+4.1 | R |
| 40 | 82.07% | 17.23% | D+64.8 | 80.28% | 17.39% | D+62.9 | D |
| 41 | 44.90% | 54.14% | R+9.2 | 48.68% | 47.72% | D+1 | R |
| 42 | 33.15% | 65.65% | R+32.5 | 27.88% | 69.43% | R+41.6 | R |
| 43 | 37.10% | 61.89% | R+24.8 | 33.22% | 64.21% | R+31 | R |
| 44 | 33.67% | 65.36% | R+31.7 | 29.34% | 67.95% | R+38.6 | R |
| 45 | 36.01% | 62.33% | R+26.3 | 31.68% | 65.25% | R+33.6 | R |
| 46 | 38.63% | 60.34% | R+21.7 | 31.67% | 66.11% | R+34.4 | R |
| 47 | 35.30% | 63.48% | R+28.2 | 27.58% | 70.15% | R+42.6 | R |
| 48 | 39.16% | 59.67% | R+20.5 | 38.39% | 58.59% | R+20.2 | R |
| 49 | 58.02% | 40.58% | D+17.4 | 57.78% | 39.16% | D+18.6 | D |
| 50 | 38.44% | 60.11% | R+21.7 | 31.44% | 65.53% | R+34.1 | R |
| Total | 48.48% | 50.53% | R+2 | 46.76% | 50.46% | R+3.7 | - |
| Source: Daily Kos | |||||||
See also
- North Carolina State Senate
- North Carolina State Legislature
- State legislative elections, 2018
- North Carolina state legislative Democratic primaries, 2018
- North Carolina state legislative Republican primaries, 2018
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Excludes unopposed elections
- ↑ Ballotpedia defines an incumbent as retiring if the incumbent did not file for office or filed for office but withdrew, was disqualified, or otherwise left a race in a manner other than losing the primary, primary runoff, or convention. If an incumbent runs as a write-in candidate, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring. If an incumbent runs in the same chamber for a different seat, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring.
- ↑ Civitas Institute, "Civitas Partisan Index – 2016," May 10, 2018
- ↑ Election Law Blog, "Breaking: 3-Judge Court Unanimously Rules NC State Districts Unconstitutional Racial Gerrymander," August 11, 2016
- ↑ United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, "Covington v. North Carolina," August 11, 2016
- ↑ Governing, "North Carolina Ordered to Hold Special Elections After Redrawing Districts," November 30, 2016
- ↑ Reuters, "Federal judges order North Carolina to redraw legislative districts," November 30, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Citizen-Times, "Redistricting ruling might help NC Democrats - or not," December 1, 2016
- ↑ ABC 11, "Federal court orders North Carolina to redraw districts, hold elections in Fall of 2017," accessed April 17, 2017
- ↑ The News and Observer, "GOP legislative leaders ask US Supreme Court to halt 2017 elections," December 30, 2016
- ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "State of North Carolina, et al. v. Sandra Little Covington, et al.: Emergency Application for Stay of Remedial order Pending Resolution of Direct Appeal in This Court," December 30, 2016
- ↑ Election Law Blog, "Breaking: #SCOTUS Halts NC Special Elections Ordered after Finding of Racial Gerrymandering," January 10, 2017
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedchronicle - ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "North Carolina v. Covington: Per Curiam," June 5, 2017
- ↑ News&Observer, "NC House, Senate cancel Cooper’s call for redistricting special session, calling it ‘unconstitutional’," June 9, 2017
- ↑ The News&Observer, "NC lawmakers: More than 65% of districts could change to correct racial gerrymanders," July 10, 2017
- ↑ Bladen Journal, "NCGA attorneys to court: We would have to redraw more than 100 districts," July 10, 2017
- ↑ My Fox 8, "Judges deciding if North Carolina will hold a special NCGA election," July 27, 2017
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, "Covington v. North Carolina: Order," July 31, 2017
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 The News and Observer, "NC legislators OK redistricting rules. Democrats aren’t happy." August 10, 2017
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 WRAL.com, "Redistricting criteria call for partisan maps, no consideration of race," August 10, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "House Select Committee on Redistricting – 8-10-2017," accessed August 11, 2017
- ↑ Citizen-Times, "NC remapping rules include election results but not race," August 11, 2017
- ↑ The News and Observer, "New map reveals part of NC Republicans’ redistricting plan," August 19, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Districts and Their Incumbents: NC House Plan," August 21, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "August 22, 2017 Redistricting Public Hearing Sites," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ The News and Observer, "Here’s what the public had to say about GOP redistricting plans," August 22, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Districts and Their Incumbents: NC Senate Plan," August 21, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "HB 927," accessed August 30, 2017
- ↑ The News and Observer, "See the proposed NC Senate map," August 20, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Senate Bill 691," accessed August 25, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "House Calendar," August 25, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "SB 691," accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, "Covington v. North Carolina: Order," October 26, 2017
- ↑ Greensboro News and Record, "GOP leaders object to using outside expert on redistricting maps," October 30, 2017
- ↑ American Lens, "Special Master Imposed by Court on NC Redistricting," October 31, 2017
- ↑ United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, "Covington v. North Carolina: Special Master's Draft Plan and Order," November 13, 2017
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Republican lawmakers upset with Stanford professor’s plan to fix gerrymandering," December 1, 2017
- ↑ Winston-Salem Journal, "'Special master' submits final N.C. redistricting maps," December 1, 2017
- ↑ WRAL.com, "Redistricting hearing signals coming end to map-making saga," January 5, 2018
- ↑ United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, "Covington v. North Carolina: Memorandum Opinion and Order," January 19, 2018
- ↑ WRAL.com, "GOP legislators ask altered North Carolina maps be delayed," January 21, 2018
- ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "North Carolina, et al. v. Covington, Sandra L., et al.: Order in Pending Case," February 6, 2018
- ↑ The New York Times, "Supreme Court Issues Partial Stay in North Carolina Voting Case," February 6, 2018
- ↑ WRAL.com, "Supreme Court says some, but not all, new legislative districts can be used in 2018 elections," February 6, 2018
- ↑ The News & Observer, "After Supreme Court ruling, NC gerrymander challengers turn to state court for relief," February 7, 2018
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Wake-Mecklenburg maps stand as GOP drew them as candidates file for office," February 12, 2018
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Another redistricting lawsuit filed in NC — this one over Wake election districts," February 21, 2018
- ↑ Politico, "North Carolina governor alleges voter fraud in bid to hang on," November 21, 2016
- ↑ The Atlantic, "North Carolina's 'Legislative Coup' Is Over, and Republicans Won," December 16, 2016
- ↑ Twitter, "Roy Cooper," December 30, 2016
- ↑ USA Today, "GOP N.C. governor signs bill curbing Democrat successor's power," December 17, 2016
- ↑ NY Times, "North Carolina Governor Signs Law Limiting Successor’s Power," December 16, 2016
- ↑ CNN, "NC's GOP governor signs bill curbing successor's power," December 30, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "NC governor vetoes bill allowing a new primary in disputed House race," December 21, 2018
- ↑ The number of state legislative seats available for analysis varied, with as many as 7,795 and as few as 6,835.
- ↑ Lyndon Johnson's (D) first term began in November 1963 after the death of President John F. Kennedy (D), who was first elected in 1960. Before Johnson had his first midterm in 1966, he was re-elected president in 1964.
- ↑ Gerald Ford's (R) first term began in August 1974 following the resignation of President Richard Nixon (R), who was first elected in 1968 and was re-elected in 1972. Because Ford only served for two full months before facing the electorate, this election is classified as Nixon's second midterm.
- ↑ North Carolina General Statutes, "Chapter 163, Article 10, Section 106," accessed April 28, 2025
- ↑ North Carolina General Statutes, "Chapter 163, Article 10, Section 107," accessed April 28, 2025
- ↑ North Carolina General Statutes, "Chapter 163, Article 11, Section 122," accessed April 28, 2025
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Senate Bill 656," accessed April 28, 2025
- ↑ North Carolina General Statutes, "Chapter 163, Article 11, Section 123," accessed April 28, 2025
- ↑ 65.0 65.1 North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Write-in Candidate Petitions," accessed April 28, 2025
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
- ↑ North Carolina Constitution, "Article II, Section 9," accessed February 12, 2021
- ↑ 270towin.com, "North Carolina," accessed June 1, 2017
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
