2020 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election

The 2020 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on November 3, 2020, to elect the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Primary elections were held on March 3, 2020.

2020 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election

November 3, 2020

Nominee Mark Robinson Yvonne Lewis Holley Party Republican Democratic

Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest Republican

In North Carolina, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are elected separately.

Incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest was re-elected to a second term in 2016, despite Republican Governor Pat McCrory losing reelection by a narrow margin.[1] Forest is ineligible to run for a third term due to term limits established by the Constitution of North Carolina. He is instead running for Governor.[2]

The Republican Party nominated businessman Mark Robinson, and the Democratic Party nominated state representative Yvonne Lewis Holley. As no third parties filed for ballot access, North Carolina is expected to elect its first African American lieutenant governor.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Mark Robinson, businessman[3][4]

Eliminated in primary

• Buddy Bengel, North Carolina Education Lottery commissioner[5]
• Deborah Cochran, former mayor of Mount Airy[6]
• Renee Ellmers, former U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 2nd congressional district[7]
• Greg Gebhardt, North Carolina National Guardsman and U.S. Army veteran[8]
• Mark Johnson, North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction[9][10]
• John L. Ritter, attorney[11]
• Scott Stone, former state representative[12]
• Andy Wells, state senator[13]

Declined

• Mark Brody, state representative[14]
• Jim Puckett, Mecklenburg County commissioner[15][16]
• Mark Walker, incumbent U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 6th congressional district[17]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[lower-alpha 1]	Margin of error	Buddy Bengel	Deborah Cochran	Renee Ellmers	Greg Gebhardt	Mark Johnson	John Ritter	Mark Robinson	Scott Stone	Andy Wells	Undecided
Harper Polling/Civitas Institute	December 2–4, 2019	500 (LV)	± 4.38%	5%	8%	7%	3%	3%	1%	4%	1%	1%	67%

Results

Primary results by county:

Robinson

•   Robinson—61-70%
•   Robinson—51-60%
•   Robinson—41-50%
•   Robinson—31-40%
•   Robinson—21-30%

Wells

•   Wells—41-50%

Ritter

•   Ritter—31-40%

Ellmers

•   Ellmers—21-30%

Cochran

•   Cochran—41-50%

Stone

•   Stone—11-20%

Republican primary results[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Robinson	240,843	32.52%
	Republican	Andy Wells	107,824	14.56%
	Republican	Mark Johnson	89,200	12.04%
	Republican	John L. Ritter	85,023	11.48%
	Republican	Renee Ellmers	50,526	6.82%
	Republican	Greg Gebhardt	50,474	6.81%
	Republican	Deborah Cochran	48,234	6.51%
	Republican	Scott Stone	48,193	6.51%
	Republican	Buddy Bengel	20,395	2.75%
Total votes			740,712	100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Yvonne Lewis Holley, state representative[12]

Eliminated in primary

• Chaz Beasley, state representative[19]
• Ron Newton, candidate for lieutenant governor in 2016[20]
• Allen Thomas, Hoke County commissioner[21]
• Bill Toole, environmental attorney, former Belmont city councilman, and former chairman of the Gaston County Democratic Party[22]
• Terry Van Duyn, state senator[23]

Withdrawn

• Cal Cunningham, former state senator (running for the U.S. Senate)[24]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[lower-alpha 1]	Margin of error	Chaz Beasley	Yvonne Holley	Ron Newton	Allen Thomas	Bill Toole	Terry Van Duyn	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	February 4–5, 2020	604	-	6%	7%	1%	4%	2%	5%	75%
Public Policy Polling	January 10–13, 2020	509	-	3%	7%	2%	6%	2%	4%	77%

Results

Primary results by county:

Lewis Holley

•   Lewis Holley—41-50%
•   Lewis Holley—31-40%
•   Lewis Holley—21-30%

Van Duyn

•   Van Duyn—61-70%
•   Van Duyn—41-50%
•   Van Duyn—31-40%
•   Van Duyn—21-30%

Beasley

•   Beasley—51-60%
•   Beasley—41-50%
•   Beasley—31-40%
•   Beasley—21-30%

Thomas

•   Thomas—71-80%
•   Thomas—61-70%
•   Thomas—51-60%
•   Thomas—41-50%
•   Thomas—31-40%

Toole

•   Toole—31-40%

Newton

•   Newton—51-60%

Democratic primary results[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Yvonne Lewis Holley	309,274	26.58%
	Democratic	Terry Van Duyn	237,885	20.44%
	Democratic	Chaz Beasley	219,503	18.86%
	Democratic	Allen Thomas	219,229	18.84%
	Democratic	Bill Toole	111,843	9.61%
	Democratic	Ron Newton	65,970	5.67%
Total votes			1,163,704	100.0%

Because no candidate in the Democratic primary won more than 30 percent of the vote, second-place finisher Terry Van Duyn was entitled to call for a runoff, or "second primary," if she chose to do so.[25] However, Van Duyn chose not to call for a runoff, and Yvonne Holley was awarded the Democratic nomination.[26]

General election

Polling

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mark Robinson (R)	Yvonne Lewis Holley (D)	Undecided
Cardinal Point Analytics	July 13-15, 2020	547	± 4.2%	43%	39%	18%

Results

North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Mark Robinson
	Democratic	Yvonne Lewis Holley
Total votes				100.0%

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

References

1. Leslie, Laura (November 9, 2016). "Split-ticket voting leads to mix of Democratic, Republican wins in NC". WRAL.
2. "Dan Forest will hold campaign kick off rally in August". North State Journal. July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
3. "The NCGOP's Lt. Gov. Candidate Apparently Thinks the Coronavirus Is a "Globalist" Conspiracy to Destroy Donald Trump". Indy Week. March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
4. "Man whose pro-gun speech went viral announces candidacy for lieutenant governor". The Richmond Observer. July 3, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
5. "New Bern resident, baseball team owner Bengel running for lieutenant governor". WCTI 12. Associated Press. June 3, 2019.
6. "Cochran announces bid for lieutenant governor". The Mount Airy News. May 20, 2018.
7. Brufke, Juliegrace (March 27, 2019). "Renee Ellmers announces bid for North Carolina lieutenant governor". The Hill.
8. "Greg Gebhardt announces bid for NC lieutenant governor". Blue Ridge Now. July 22, 2019.
9. Ball, Billy (October 3, 2018). "Superintendent Mark Johnson's new website may have broken North Carolina law". NC Policy Watch.
10. "State Superintendent Mark Johnson joins the field seeking to be NC lieutenant governor". The News and Observer. November 12, 2019.
11. "2020 North Carolina state candidate list" (PDF). Retrieved 19 December 2019.
12. Harrison, Steve (April 9, 2019). "Scott Stone Makes It Official, Says He's Running for Lt. Governor". WFAE. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
13. "Sen. Wells to run for NC Lt. Governor". The Taylorsville Times. September 12, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
14. Clifton, Brant (January 7, 2019). "TWO NCGOPers "exploring" a run for LtGov". The Daily Haymaker.
15. Dunn, Andrew (January 7, 2019). "Jim Puckett considering campaign for lieutenant governor". Longleaf Politics.
16. "Puckett will run for his old seat on Meck County Board of Commissioners". NC Business Today. July 29, 2019.
17. Mutnick, Ally; Arkin, James (December 12, 2019). "Mark Walker's political future in jeopardy after redistricting". Politico.
18. "NC SBE Contest Results". er.ncsbe.gov. North Carolina Board of Elections. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
19. "Chaz Beasley announces run for lieutenant governor in NC". WCNC. March 21, 2019.
20. NC State Board of Elections: State candidate list by contest
21. Woolverton, Paul (March 10, 2019). "Two from Fayetteville-Fort Bragg region in lieutenant governor race". The Fayetteville Observer.
22. Barrett, Michael (March 13, 2019). "Former Belmont city councilman eyes lieutenant governor's seat". Gaston Gazette.
23. Boyle, John; Wadington, Katie (December 10, 2019). "Terry Van Duyn announces 2020 run for NC lieutenant governor". Asheville Citizen-Times.
24. Morrill, Jim (June 17, 2018). "Democrat Cal Cunningham enters US Senate race, and draws fire from both sides". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
25. Asheville Citizen-Times
26. Vaillancourt, Cory. "Van Duyn won't call for runoff in lieutenant governor election". www.smokymountainnews.com. Retrieved 11 March 2020.

External links

Official campaign websites

• Yvonne Lewis Holley (D) for Lt. Governor
• Mark Robinson (R) for Lt. Governor