North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2012

The North Carolina gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2012. The primary election was held on May 8, 2012.

Early in the election cycle, the 2012 race was shaping up to be a repeat of 2008, in which Beverly Perdue narrowly defeated Pat McCrory with roughly 50% of the vote. That changed in January 2012, though, when Perdue announced she would not seek a second term in office. Perdue, a first term Democrat and the first female governor in the history of the Tarheel State, had been slipping in the polls and at the time of her announcement was preparing to propose a budget that included a controversial sales tax increase for education. In explaining her decision, Perdue said a bid for re-election would "only further politicize the fight to adequately fund our schools."

Perdue's lieutenant governor, Walter Dalton, declared his intention to run for governor the day after Perdue announced she would not seek re-election. The primary season, short though it was, was a close match but Dalton managed to edge out former Congressman Bob Etheridge and four other candidates.

On the Republican side, Pat McCrory easily defeated five challengers in the primary. He went on to defeat Dalton in the general election on November 6, 2012.

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General election

Candidates

Walter Dalton (Democrat)
Pat McCrory (Republican)
Barbara Howe (Libertarian)

Results

Governor of North Carolina General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Walter Dalton	43.2%	1,931,580
	Republican	Pat McCrory	54.6%	2,440,707
	Libertarian	Barbara Howe	2.1%	94,652
	Write-in	Various	0%	1,356
Total Votes				4,468,295
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

Primary election

Democratic

Governor of North Carolina Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Walter Dalton	45.9%	428,475
Bob Etheridge	38%	354,923
Bill Faison	5.6%	52,179
Gardenia Henley	5.2%	48,982
Gary M. Dunn	2.9%	27,358
Bruce Blackmon	2.4%	22,370
Total Votes		934,287
Election results via The North Carolina Board of Elections.

Republican

Governor of North Carolina Republican Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Pat McCrory	83.4%	748,180
Paul Wright	5.3%	47,403
Scott Jones	3.5%	31,191
James Mahan	3.4%	30,056
Jim Harney	3%	26,485
Charles Moss	1.5%	13,822
Total Votes		897,137
Election results via The North Carolina Board of Elections.

Former candidates

• Doug Schell

Background

2013 → ← 2011

2012 State Executive Official Elections

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News • Calendar

Key dates

Deadline	Event
Feb. 13 - Feb. 29	Statewide candidate filing
Apr. 13	Voter registration for primary election
May 8	Primary election
Oct. 12	Voter registration for general election
Nov. 6	General election

Race ratings

2012 Race Rankings - North Carolina Governor
Race Tracker		Race Rating
The Cook Political Report		Toss-up
Governing Politics		Lean Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball		Toss-up
Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard		No prediction yet
The Rothenberg Political Report		Lean Republican
Overall Call

Polls

Contents
1 General
2 Primary
2.1 Democratic
2.2 Republican

General election polls

Without Barbara Howe (Libertarian candidate)

Governor of North Carolina (Dalton and McCrory only)
Poll	Walter Dalton	Pat McCrory	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Rasmussen Reports October 9, 2012	38%	52%	10%	+/-4.5	500
Rasmussen Reports September 13, 2012	38%	51%	10%	+/-4.5	500
Elon University August 25-30, 2012	37%	52%	11%	+/-3.0	1,089
Rasmussen Reports June 25, 2012	35%	49%	12%	+/-4.5	500
NBC News/Marist June 24-25, 2012	41%	43%	17%	+/-3.1	1,208
Public Policy Polling June 7-10, 2012	40%	47%	13%	+/-3.4	810
Public Policy Polling May 10-13, 2012	40%	46%	13%	+/-3.8	666
AVERAGES	38.43%	48.57%	12.29%	+/-3.83	753.29
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.

With Barbara Howe (Libertarian candidate)

Governor of North Carolina (all 3 candidates)
Poll	Walter Dalton	Pat McCrory	Barbara Howe	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Public Policy Polling October 29-31, 2012	39%	50%	4%	7%	+/-3.6	730
Public Policy Polling (dead link) October 23-25, 2012	37%	50%	5%	8%	+/-3.3	880
Public Policy Polling October 12-14, 2012	37%	47%	5%	11%	+/-3.0	1,084
Public Policy Polling September 27-30	37%	47%	5%	11%	+/-3.1	981
Civitas Institute September 18-19	38%	49%	2%	9%	+/-4	600
Public Policy Polling August 31–September 2	39%	45%	5%	11%	+/-3.1	1,012
Public Policy Polling August 2-5, 2012	38%	45%	7%	11%	+/-3.4	813
Civitas Institute July 16-18, 2012	37%	47%	6%	10%	+/-4.0	600
Public Policy Polling July 5-8, 2012	36%	43%	9%	12%	+/-3.5	775
Civitas Institute June 29 - July 1, 2012	44%	46%	7%	3%	+/-4.2	558
AVERAGES	38.2%	46.9%	5.5%	9.3%	+/-3.52	803.3
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.

Between March 8th and 11th, Public Policy Polling surveyed 804 North Carolina voters. The respondents were give hypothetical match-ups between Pat McCrory and the Democratic candidates, and asked which of the two candidates they would vote for.

Hypothetical match-ups for Governor of North Carolina
	Bruce Blackmon	Walter Dalton	Bob Etheridge	Gardenia Henley
Percent of the vote	33%	35%	36%	29%
Pat McCrory's percent of the vote	48%	46%	46%	49%
Undecided	18%	19%	18%	22%

On April 10, 2012, Pulse Opinion Research, LLC, conducted a telephone survey of 500 likely voters in North Carolina on behalf of Rasmussen Reports. Similar to the Public Policy Polling survey cited above, respondents were given three separate hypothetical situations that matched presumptive Republican candidate Pat McCrory and three Democratic candidates and asked how they would vote in each if the election were held that day.

Hypothetical match-ups for Governor of North Carolina
	Walter Dalton	Bob Etheridge	Bill Faison
Percent of the vote	36%	35%	30%
Pat McCrory's percent of the vote	45%	46%	47%

Primary polls

Democratic

Democratic candidates for Governor of North Carolina
Poll	Bruce Blackmon	Walter Dalton	Gary Dunn	Bob Etheridge	Bill Faison	Gardenia Henley	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
John W. Pope Civitas Institute April 20-23, 2012	3%	32%	3%	27%	4%	2%	27%	+/-4.7	448
Public Policy Polling April 20-22, 2012	4%	26%	4%	25%	5%	2%	35%	+/-4.4	500
Public Policy Polling March 23-March 25, 2012	5%	15%	4%	26%	3%	2%	45%	+/-4.36	505
Public Policy Polling February 29-March 1, 2012	5%	19%	2%	26%	2%	4%	41%	+/-4.4	499
AVERAGES	4.25%	23%	3.25%	26%	3.5%	2.5%	37%	+/-4.47	488
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 candidates for Governor of North Carolina (Pre-filing deadline)
Poll	Walter Dalton	Bob Etheridge	Bill Faison	Dan Blue	Not sure	Margin of error	Sample size
Public Policy Polling February 3-5, 2012	22%	25%	6%	7%	40%	+/-4.9	400
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

Republican candidates for Governor of North Carolina
Poll	Jim Harney	Scott Jones	Jim Mahan	Pat McCrory	Charles Moss	Paul Wright	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Public Policy Polling March 22-25, 2012	2%	1%	3%	64%	2%	0%	28%	+/-4.1	561
Public Policy Polling February 29-March 1, 2012	3%	2%	2%	57%	1%	0%	35%	+/-4.8	411
AVERAGES	2.5%	1.5%	2.5%	60.5%	1.5%	0%	31.5%	+/-4.45	486
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 sites and media

Campaign sites

Democratic candidates:

• Walter Dalton
• Gary Dunn
• Bob Etheridge
• Bill Faison
• Gardenia Henley

Republican candidates:

• Scott Jones
• Pat McCrory
• Paul Wright

Libertarian candidate:

• Barbara Howe

Media

Walter Dalton

Pat McCrory

Republican Governors Association

North Carolina Citizens for Progress

Campaign finance

The North Carolina State Board of Elections administers campaign finance laws and maintains all records online.

Walter Dalton

Walter Dalton Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
2012 First Quarter Report (Amended)	June 15, 2012	$590,298.28	$657,847.68	$(577,789.82)	$670,356.14
Second Quarter Report	July 11, 2012	$670,356.14	$1,053,979.05	$(1,009,992.83)	$714,342.36
Third Quarter Report	October 20, 2012	$714,342.36	$1,434,293.91	$(1,880,402.41)	$268,233.86
			Running totals
			$3,146,120.64	$(3,468,185.06)

Pat McCrory

Pat McCrory Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
First Quarter Report	April 27, 2012	$2,049,467.25	$1,697,563.05	$(604,157.22)	$3,142,873.08
Second Quarter Report	July 11, 2012	$3,142,873.08	$2,221,250.20	$(1,003,095.07)	$4,361,028.21
Third Quarter Report	October 20, 2012	$4,361,028.21	$5,017,072.66	$(7,694,695.81)	$1,683,405.06
			Running totals
			$8,935,885.91	$(9,301,948.1)

Barbara Howe

Barbara Howe Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
First Quarter Report	April 27, 2012	$238.03	$16,725.00	$(62.57)	$16,900.46
Second Quarter Report	July 11, 2012	$16,900.46	$5,694.60	$(5,954.47)	$16,640.59
Third Quarter Report	October 20, 2012	$16,640.59	$108,910.68	$(76,091.59)	$49,459.68
			Running totals
			$131,330.28	$(82,108.63)

News

• Gov. Beverly Perdue bows out of 2012 gubernatorial race; opens Democratic field January 26
• 68 days and counting until the North Carolina primary election: Do you know your state executive candidates? March 1
• State executive primary preview: More than Amendment One on the ballot in North Carolina tomorrow May 7
• Six of North Carolina's state executive races headed to a primary runoff May 9

Additional reading

• WRAL, "2012 NC gubernatorial candidates on education policy"

See also

• Governor of North Carolina
• Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina
• North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2012
• North Carolina state executive official elections, 2012
• North Carolina down ballot state executive elections, 2012
• State executive official elections, 2012

External links

Suggest a link

• North Carolina Governor's office
• North Carolina State Board of Elections