North Carolina 2012 Election Results

Ballot Measures, May 8, 2012

North Carolina voters decided 1 statewide ballot measure on May 8, 2012.

Ballot measures

General Election, November 6, 2012

North Carolina held its general election on November 6, 2012, deciding 170 legislative seats and 10 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans won the governorship and veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers, a 77-43 House and a 33-17 Senate, completing the takeover that began when they won the legislature in 2010.
• Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory (R), who had lost the closest governor’s race in the country in 2008, beat Walter Dalton (D) by about 11 points after Gov. Bev Perdue declined to seek a second term. He became the first Republican governor since Jim Martin, who left office nearly two decades earlier.
• Dan Forest (R) also took the open lieutenant governor's office, beating Linda Coleman (D) by about 6,900 votes out of more than 4 million. Coleman was eligible for a recount but conceded instead, saying, "There will be no lawsuits." Democrats otherwise held the six other Council of State offices on the ballot, North Carolina's statewide elected posts below governor, while Republicans kept agriculture and labor.
• On the new maps, 6 legislators lost in November, five of them Democrats:
  • Rep. Bill Cook (R) unseated Sen. Stan White (D) by a mere 21 votes in Senate District 1, the closest legislative race of the year.
  • Chad Barefoot (R) beat Sen. Doug Berger (D), who had held the old Senate District 7, by about 12 points in Senate District 18.
  • Michele Presnell (R) beat Rep. Ray Rapp (D) by fewer than 1,000 votes in House District 118, and Brian Brown (R) beat Rep. Marian McLawhorn (D) by about 1,100 votes in House District 9.
  • Rob Bryan (R) beat Rep. Martha Alexander (D), who had represented the old House District 106, in House District 88.
  • The lone Republican loss: Ken Waddell (D) unseated Rep. G. L. Pridgen (R) in House District 46.

Legislature

• House (120 seats): 52 D, 67 R, 1 other or vacant before the election, 43 D, 77 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (50 seats): 19 D, 31 R before the election, 17 D, 33 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races