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."^[1]

Perdue's lieutenant governor, Walter Dalton, declared his intention to run for governor the day after Perdue announced she would not seek re-election.^[2] 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.

General election[edit]

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	2012; State Executive Official Elections
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Candidates[edit]

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

Results[edit]

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[edit]

Democratic[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Doug Schell

Background[edit]

Key dates[edit]

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[edit]

2012 Race Rankings - North Carolina Governor
Race Tracker		Race Rating
The Cook Political Report^[3]		Toss-up
Governing Politics^[4]		Lean Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball^[5]		Toss-up
Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard^[6]		No prediction yet
The Rothenberg Political Report^[7]		Lean Republican
Overall Call

Polls[edit]

Contents

1 General
2 Primary
2.1 Democratic
2.2 Republican

General election polls[edit]

Without Barbara Howe (Libertarian candidate)[edit]

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)[edit]

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.^[8]

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.^[9]

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[edit]

Democratic[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Campaign sites[edit]

Democratic candidates:

Republican candidates:

Libertarian candidate:

Barbara Howe

Media[edit]

Walter Dalton[edit]

Pat McCrory[edit]

Republican Governors Association[edit]

North Carolina Citizens for Progress[edit]

Campaign finance[edit]

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

Walter Dalton[edit]

Walter Dalton Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
2012 First Quarter Report (Amended)^[10]	June 15, 2012	$590,298.28	$657,847.68	$(577,789.82)	$670,356.14
Second Quarter Report^[11]	July 11, 2012	$670,356.14	$1,053,979.05	$(1,009,992.83)	$714,342.36
Third Quarter Report^[12]	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[edit]

Pat McCrory Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
First Quarter Report^[13]	April 27, 2012	$2,049,467.25	$1,697,563.05	$(604,157.22)	$3,142,873.08
Second Quarter Report^[14]	July 11, 2012	$3,142,873.08	$2,221,250.20	$(1,003,095.07)	$4,361,028.21
Third Quarter Report^[15]	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[edit]

Barbara Howe Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
First Quarter Report^[16]	April 27, 2012	$238.03	$16,725.00	$(62.57)	$16,900.46
Second Quarter Report^[17]	July 11, 2012	$16,900.46	$5,694.60	$(5,954.47)	$16,640.59
Third Quarter Report^[18]	October 20, 2012	$16,640.59	$108,910.68	$(76,091.59)	$49,459.68
			Running totals
			$131,330.28	$(82,108.63)

News[edit]

Additional reading[edit]

WRAL, "2012 NC gubernatorial candidates on education policy"

External links[edit]

Suggest a link

Footnotes[edit]

[1] Chicago Tribune, "NC Gov. Perdue gives up on 2nd term run; says it would politicize school funding fight," January 26, 2012

[2] Watuga Democrat.com, "Walter Dalton announced run for governor," January 27, 2012

[3] The Cook Political Report, “Governors: Race Ratings”

[4] Governing Politics, “Looking Ahead: The 2011-2012 Gubernatorial Landscape”, December 2, 2010

[5] Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball', “2011 Governor Ratings”

[6] Rasmussen Reports', “Election 2010: Scorecard Ratings”

[7] Rothenberg Political Report, “Governor Ratings”

[8] Public Policy Polling, "McCrory tops Etheridge, Dalton by ten to eleven points," accessed March 19, 2012

[9] '"Rasmussen Reports, "Election 2012:North Carolina Governor," accessed April 24, 2012

[10] North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Walter Dalton: First Quarter Disclosure Report," accessed July 18, 2012

[11] North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Walter Dalton: Second Quarter Disclosure Report," accessed July 18, 2012

[12] North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Walter Dalton: Third Quarter Disclosure Report," accessed October 31, 2012

[13] North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Pat McCrory: First Quarter Disclosure Report," accessed May 29, 2012

[14] North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Pat McCrory: Second Quarter Disclosure Report," accessed July 18, 2012

[15] North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Pat McCrory: Third Quarter Disclosure Report," accessed October 31, 2012

[16] North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Barbara Howe: First Quarter Disclosure Report," accessed May 29, 2012

[17] North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Barbara Howe: Second Quarter Disclosure Report," accessed July 18, 2012

[18] North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Barbara Howe: Third Quarter Disclosure Report," accessed October 31, 2012

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North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2012

General election[edit]

Candidates[edit]

Results[edit]

Primary election[edit]

Democratic[edit]

Republican[edit]

Former candidates[edit]

Background[edit]

Key dates[edit]

Race ratings[edit]

Polls[edit]

General election polls[edit]

Without Barbara Howe (Libertarian candidate)[edit]

With Barbara Howe (Libertarian candidate)[edit]

Primary polls[edit]

Democratic[edit]

Republican[edit]

Campaign sites and media[edit]

Campaign sites[edit]

Media[edit]

Walter Dalton[edit]

Pat McCrory[edit]

Republican Governors Association[edit]

North Carolina Citizens for Progress[edit]

Campaign finance[edit]

Walter Dalton[edit]

Pat McCrory[edit]

Barbara Howe[edit]

News[edit]

Additional reading[edit]

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

2013 → ← 2011
2012 State Executive Official Elections

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