| Election Name: | 2020 North Carolina Council of State election |
| Country: | North Carolina |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2016 North Carolina Council of State election |
| Previous Year: | 2016 |
| Next Election: | 2024 North Carolina Council of State elections |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Seats For Election: | All 10 members of the North Carolina Council of State |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Last Election1: | 6 |
| Seats1: | 6 |
| Percentage1: | 50.68% |
| Swing1: | 0.52 |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Last Election2: | 4 |
| Seats2: | 4 |
| Percentage2: | 49.17% |
| Swing2: | 0.97 |
The North Carolina Council of State elections of 2020 were held on November 3, 2020, to select the ten officers of the North Carolina Council of State. These elections coincided with the presidential election, elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the Senate and elections to the North Carolina General Assembly and top state courts. Primary elections were held on March 3, 2020, for offices for which more than one candidate filed per party.
The ten members of the North Carolina Council of State are statewide-elected officers serving four-year terms.[1]
The result of the 2020 elections was a Council of State consisting of four Democrats and six Republicans, just as it had been before the elections.[2] Three seats (Lieutenant Governor, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Commissioner of Labor) were open, but in each case, a Republican succeeded a fellow Republican.
See main article: 2020 North Carolina gubernatorial election. Incumbent governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, ran for a second term. The Republican Party nominated Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest. The Libertarian Party nominated Steven J. DiFore, and the Constitution Party nominated Al Pisano. Cooper won re-election to a second term with 51.5% of the vote. Cooper received the most votes of any Democrat on the ballot in North Carolina in 2020.
See main article: 2020 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election. Incumbent lieutenant governor Dan Forest, a Republican, was ineligible to run for a third term due to term limits set by the North Carolina Constitution. Forest ran for the governorship.
The Republican Party nominated Mark Robinson, a businessman and first-time political candidate. The Democratic party nominated State Representative Yvonne Lewis Holley. Robinson defeated Holley, winning 51.6% of the vote to Holley's 48.4%. Robinson thus became North Carolina's first African-American lieutenant governor.
See main article: 2020 North Carolina Attorney General election. Incumbent attorney general Josh Stein, a Democrat, ran for a second term. He faced Republican nominee Jim O'Neill in the general election. Stein defeated O'Neill by just over 13,000 votes out of over 5.4 million cast.
| Election Name: | 2020 North Carolina Secretary of State election |
| Country: | North Carolina |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2016 North Carolina Council of State election#Secretary of State |
| Previous Year: | 2016 |
| Next Election: | 2024 North Carolina Secretary of State election |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Image1: | Elaine Marshall IACA 2018 (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Elaine Marshall |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,755,571 |
| Percentage1: | 51.16% |
| Nominee2: | E.C. Sykes |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,630,559 |
| Percentage2: | 48.84% |
| Secretary of State | |
| Before Election: | Elaine Marshall |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Elaine Marshall |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
Elaine Marshall, a Democrat, was first elected to the position of secretary of state in 1996 and had held the position since then. She was currently the longest-tenured member of the Council of State. She was unopposed in the primary. The Republican Party nominated businessman E.C. Sykes. Marshall won with 51.2% of the vote, a slightly smaller percentage of the vote than what she received in 2016. She was elected to her seventh term as secretary of state. No Republican had won election to this office since 1872, the longest streak for any state office in the country.[3]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Elaine Marshall (D) | E.C. Sykes (R) | Undecided | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Point Analytics (R) | July 22–24, 2020 | 735 (LV) | ± 3.6% | 44% | 42% | 14% | ||
| Cardinal Point Analytics (R) | July 13–15, 2020 | 547 (LV) | ± 4.2% | 47% | 39% | 14% |
| Election Name: | 2020 North Carolina State Auditor election |
| Country: | North Carolina |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2016 North Carolina Council of State election#State Auditor |
| Previous Year: | 2016 |
| Next Election: | 2024 North Carolina Council of State elections#State Auditor |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Nominee1: | Beth Wood |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,730,175 |
| Percentage1: | 50.88% |
| Nominee2: | Anthony Wayne Street |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,635,825 |
| Percentage2: | 49.12% |
| State Auditor | |
| Before Election: | Beth Wood |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Beth Wood |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
Incumbent Auditor Beth Wood, a Democrat, ran for a fourth term. She was narrowly re-elected in 2016, winning by just over six thousand votes. Wood was challenged in the Democratic primary by Luis Toledo, a former Assistant State Auditor. Toledo argued that change was needed in the Auditor's office.[8] Beth Wood won the primary by a large margin. Anthony Street, a small business owner and member of the Brunswick County Soil and Water Board, won the Republican primary.[9] Wood won the general election with 50.9% of the vote.
| Election Name: | 2020 North Carolina State Treasurer election |
| Country: | North Carolina |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2016 North Carolina Council of State election#State Treasurer |
| Previous Year: | 2016 |
| Next Election: | 2024 North Carolina Council of State elections#State Treasurer |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Image1: | Dale Wiki.jpg |
| Nominee1: | Dale Folwell |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,812,799 |
| Percentage1: | 52.58% |
| Nominee2: | Ronnie Chatterji |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,537,019 |
| Percentage2: | 47.42% |
| State Treasurer | |
| Before Election: | Dale Folwell |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Dale Folwell |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
Incumbent Treasurer Dale Folwell, a Republican, ran for a second term.
Duke University professor Ronnie Chatterji won the nomination of the Democratic Party by receiving 36% of the vote in the primary. He defeated Charlotte City Council member Dimple Ajmera and Matt Leatherman, who served as policy director for former state treasurer Janet Cowell.
Folwell defeated Chatterji in the general election. Folwell won 52.6% of the vote to Chatterji's 47.4%.
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Dimple Ajmera | Ronnie Chatterji | Matt Leatherman | Undecided | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Polling | February 2–4, 2020 | 604 (LV) | - | 9% | 4% | 8% | 80% | |||
| Public Policy Polling | January 10–12, 2020 | 509 (LV) | - | 10% | 5% | 6% | 80% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Dale Folwell (R) | Ronnie Chatterji (D) | Other | Undecided | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Carolina University | October 27–28, 2020 | 1,103 (LV) | ± 3.4% | 48% | 44% | 3% | 5% | ||
| Meeting Street Insights (R) | October 24–27, 2020 | 600 (LV) | ± 4% | 44% | 45% | – | 8% | ||
| Harper Polling/Civitas (R) | October 22–25, 2020 | 504 (LV) | ± 4.4% | 43% | 44% | – | 13% | ||
| East Carolina University | October 15–18, 2020 | 1,155 (LV) | ± 3.4% | 47% | 43% | 3% | 7% | ||
| East Carolina University | October 2–4, 2020 | 1,232 (LV) | ± 3.2% | 44% | 44% | 1% | 11% | ||
| Harper Polling/Civitas (R) | September 17–20, 2020 | 612 (LV) | ± 3.96% | 39% | 39% | – | 22% | ||
| East Carolina University | August 29–30, 2020 | 1,101 (LV) | ± 3.4% | 41% | 40% | 5% | 14% |
| Election Name: | 2020 North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction election |
| Country: | North Carolina |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2016 North Carolina Council of State election#Superintendent of Public Instruction |
| Previous Year: | 2016 |
| Next Election: | 2024 North Carolina Council of State elections#Superintendent of Public Instruction |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Image1: | Catherine Truitt 2016.jpg |
| Nominee1: | Catherine Truitt |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,753,220 |
| Percentage1: | 51.38% |
| Nominee2: | Jen Mangrum |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,605,169 |
| Percentage2: | 48.62% |
| Superintendent of Public Instruction | |
| Before Election: | Mark Johnson |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Catherine Truitt |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
Mark Johnson was elected to the position of State Superintendent in 2016, defeating incumbent June Atkinson by a narrow margin. Johnson opted not to run for a second term as Superintendent, instead declaring his candidacy for lieutenant governor.[16] Johnson's candidacy was unsuccessful, placing third in the Republican primary.
Jen Mangrum, an associate professor at UNC Greensboro, received the most votes out of the five candidates in the Democratic primary. Catherine Truitt, chancellor of Western Governors University North Carolina and a former education advisor to Governor Pat McCrory, ran for the Republican nomination. She defeated State Representative D. Craig Horn in the primary. This was the only Council of State election in which both candidates were women.
On Election Day, Truitt defeated Magnum by 2.76 percentage points. She won a slightly higher percentage of the vote than Mark Johnson did in 2016.
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Catherine Truitt (R) | Jen Mangrum (D) | Undecided | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harper Polling/Civitas (R) | October 22–25, 2020 | 504 (LV) | ± 4.4% | 42% | 45% | 13% | |
| Harper Polling/Civitas (R) | September 17–20, 2020 | 612 (LV) | ± 3.96% | 38% | 38% | 22% | |
| Harper Polling/Civitas (R) | August 6–10, 2020 | 600 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 35% | 35% | 31% |
| Election Name: | 2020 North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture election |
| Country: | North Carolina |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2016 North Carolina Council of State election#Commissioner of Agriculture |
| Previous Year: | 2016 |
| Next Election: | 2024 North Carolina Council of State elections#Commissioner of Agriculture |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Image1: | Steve Troxler USDA (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Steve Troxler |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,901,849 |
| Percentage1: | 53.86% |
| Nominee2: | Jenna Wadsworth |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,485,722 |
| Percentage2: | 46.14% |
| Commissioner of Agriculture | |
| Before Election: | Steve Troxler |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Steve Troxler |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
Incumbent Commissioner Steve Troxler, a Republican, was first elected in 2004. He was unopposed in the primary.
Three Democrats ran to challenge Troxler: Walter Smith, who ran for the office in 2012 and 2016 (losing to Troxler both times), Jenna Wadsworth, a Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor, and Donovan Alexander Watson, a businessman from Durham. Wadsworth came in first place in the primary.
On election day, Troxler won a fifth term as Agriculture Commissioner. He won 53.9% of the statewide vote, a slightly smaller percentage than he received in 2016, when he won 55.6%. Despite this, Troxler still won the largest percentage of the vote of statewide candidate in North Carolina in 2020.
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Steve Troxler (R) | Jenna Wadsworth (D) | Undecided | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting Street Insights (R) | October 24–27, 2020 | 600 (LV) | ± 4% | 50% | 42% | 6% | ||
| Harper Polling/Civitas (R) | October 22–25, 2020 | 504 (LV) | ± 4.4% | 47% | 44% | 9% | ||
| Harper Polling/Civitas (R) | August 6–10, 2020 | 600 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 42% | 34% | 24% |
| Election Name: | 2020 North Carolina Commissioner of Labor election |
| Country: | North Carolina |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2016 North Carolina Council of State election#Commissioner of Labor |
| Previous Year: | 2016 |
| Next Election: | 2024 North Carolina Council of State elections#Commissioner of Labor |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Image1: | Josh Dobson (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Josh Dobson |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,726,619 |
| Percentage1: | 50.83% |
| Nominee2: | Jessica Holmes |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,637,528 |
| Percentage2: | 49.17% |
| Commissioner of Labor | |
| Before Election: | Cherie Berry |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Josh Dobson |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
Cherie Berry was first elected to the position of Commissioner of Labor in 2000 and took office as only the second Republican Labor Commissioner in the history of North Carolina. On April 2, 2019, Berry announced that she would not seek re-election, and would retire from politics. Josh Dobson, a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives since 2013, won the Republican primary over Chuck Stanley, a construction safety manager, and former State Rep. Pearl Burris-Floyd. Wake County commissioner Jessica Holmes was the only Democrat to run. Dobson won the general election with 50.8% of the vote.
| Election Name: | 2020 North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance election |
| Country: | North Carolina |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2016 North Carolina Council of State election#Commissioner of Insurance |
| Previous Year: | 2016 |
| Next Election: | 2024 North Carolina Council of State elections#Commissioner of Insurance |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Image1: | Mike Causey (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Mike Causey |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,775,488 |
| Percentage1: | 51.76% |
| Nominee2: | Wayne Goodwin |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,586,464 |
| Percentage2: | 48.24% |
| Commissioner of Insurance | |
| Before Election: | Mike Causey |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Mike Causey |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
Incumbent Commissioner Mike Causey, a Republican, ran for a second term.
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Mike Causey (R) | Wayne Goodwin (D) | Undecided | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Point Analytics (R) | July 22–24, 2020 | 735 (LV) | ± 3.6% | 45% | 37% | 8% | ||
| Cardinal Point Analytics (R) | July 13–15, 2020 | 547 (LV) | ± 4.2% | 41% | 39% | 20% |
The Council of State was sworn in on January 9, 2021.[25]