| State: | North Carolina |
| Number Of Elections: | 59 |
| Voted Democratic: | 30 |
| Voted Republican: | 18 |
| Voted Whig: | 3 |
| Voted Dem Rep: | 7 |
| Voted Other: | 1 |
| Voted Winning: | 40 |
| Voted Losing: | 19 |
Following is a table of United States presidential elections in North Carolina, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1789, North Carolina has participated in every U.S. presidential election except the election of 1864, during the American Civil War, when the state had seceded to join the Confederacy. North Carolina did not participate in the 1788–89 United States presidential election, as it did not ratify the Constitution of the United States until months after the end of that election and after George Washington had assumed office as President of the United States.[1]
Winners of the state are in bold. The shading refers to the state winner, and not the national winner.
| data-sort-type="number" | Year | Winner (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | Other national candidates | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | data-sort-type="number" | Electoral Votes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024[2] | 2,898,428 | 50.86 | Kamala Harris | 2,715,380 | 47.65 | — | 16 | ||||||||||||
| 2020[3] | 2,684,292 | 48.59 | Donald Trump | 2,758,775 | 49.93 | — | 15 | ||||||||||||
| 2016[4] | Donald Trump | 2,362,631 | 49.83 | 2,189,316 | 46.17 | — | 15 | ||||||||||||
| 2012[5] | 2,178,391 | 48.35 | Mitt Romney | 2,270,395 | 50.39 | — | 15 | ||||||||||||
| 2008[6] | Barack Obama | 2,142,651 | 49.70 | 2,128,474 | 49.38 | — | 15 | ||||||||||||
| 2004[7] | George W. Bush | 1,961,166 | 56.02 | 1,525,849 | 43.58 | — | 15 | ||||||||||||
| 2000[8] | George W. Bush | 1,631,163 | 56.03 | 1,257,692 | 43.2 | — | 14 | ||||||||||||
| 1996[9] | 1,107,849 | 44.04 | Bob Dole | 1,225,938 | 48.73 | 168,059 | 6.68 | 14 | |||||||||||
| 1,114,042 | 42.65 | George H. W. Bush | 1,134,661 | 43.44 | 357,864 | 13.7 | 14 | ||||||||||||
| George H. W. Bush | 1,237,258 | 57.97 | 890,167 | 41.71 | — | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Ronald Reagan | 1,346,481 | 61.90 | 824,287 | 37.89 | — | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Ronald Reagan | 915,018 | 49.30 | 875,635 | 47.18 | 52,800 | 2.85 | 13 | ||||||||||||
| Jimmy Carter | 927,365 | 55.27 | 741,960 | 44.22 | — | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Richard Nixon | 1,054,889 | 69.46 | 438,705 | 28.89 | — | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Richard Nixon | 627,192 | 39.51 | 464,113 | 29.24 | 496,188 | 31.26 | 13 | electoral vote split: 12 to Nixon, 1 to Wallace (faithless elector) | |||||||||||
| Lyndon B. Johnson | 800,139 | 56.15 | 624,844 | 43.85 | — | 13 | |||||||||||||
| John F. Kennedy | 713,136 | 52.11 | 655,420 | 47.89 | — | 14 | |||||||||||||
| 575,062 | 49.34 | Adlai Stevenson II | 590,530 | 50.66 | — | — | 14 | ||||||||||||
| 558,107 | 46.09 | Adlai Stevenson II | 652,803 | 53.91 | — | 14 | |||||||||||||
| Harry S. Truman | 459,070 | 58.02 | 258,572 | 32.68 | 69,652 | 8.8 | 14 | ||||||||||||
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | 527,399 | 66.71 | 263,155 | 33.29 | — | 14 | |||||||||||||
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | 609,015 | 74.03 | 213,633 | 25.97 | — | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | 616,141 | 73.40 | 223,283 | 26.6 | — | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | 497,566 | 69.93 | 208,344 | 29.28 | — | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Herbert Hoover | 348,923 | 54.94 | 286,227 | 45.06 | — | 12 | |||||||||||||
| 191,753 | 39.73 | John W. Davis | 284,270 | 58.89 | 6,651 | 1.38 | 12 | ||||||||||||
| 232,848 | 43.22 | James M. Cox | 305,447 | 56.70 | Parley P. Christensen | — | — | 12 | |||||||||||
| Woodrow Wilson | 168,383 | 58.10 | 120,890 | 41.71 | — | 12 | |||||||||||||
| Woodrow Wilson | 144,407 | 59.24 | 69,135 | 28.36 | 29,129 | 11.95 | 12 | ||||||||||||
| 114,887 | 45.49 | William Jennings Bryan | 136,928 | 54.22 | — | 12 | |||||||||||||
| 82,442 | 39.67 | Alton B. Parker | 124,091 | 59.71 | — | 12 | |||||||||||||
| 132,997 | 45.47 | William Jennings Bryan | 157,733 | 53.92 | — | 11 | |||||||||||||
| 155,122 | 46.82 | William Jennings Bryan | 174,408 | 52.64 | — | 11 | |||||||||||||
| Grover Cleveland | 132,951 | 47.44 | 100,346 | 35.8 | 44,336 | 15.82 | 11 | ||||||||||||
| 134,784 | 47.20 | Grover Cleveland | 147,902 | 51.79 | — | 11 | |||||||||||||
| Grover Cleveland | 142,905 | 53.25 | 125,021 | 46.59 | — | 11 | |||||||||||||
| 115,616 | 47.98 | Winfield S. Hancock | 124,204 | 51.55 | 1,126 | 0.47 | 10 | ||||||||||||
| 108,484 | 46.38 | Samuel J. Tilden | 125,427 | 53.62 | — | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Ulysses S. Grant | 94,772 | 57.38 | 70,130 | 42.46 | — | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Ulysses S. Grant | 96,939 | 53.4 | 84,559 | 46.6 | — | 9 | |||||||||||||
| 1864 | No vote due to secession. | — | 9 |
The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War.
| data-sort-type="number" | Year | Winner (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | data-sort-type="number" | Electoral Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style"text-align:left" | 1860 | Abraham Lincoln | no ballots | Stephen A. Douglas | 2,737 | 2.8 | John C. Breckinridge | 48,846 | 50.5 | John Bell | 45,129 | 46.7 | 10 |
| data-sort-type="number" | Year | Winner (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | Other national candidates | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | data-sort-type="number" | Electoral Votes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Buchanan | 48,243 | 56.78 | no ballots | 36,720 | 43.22 | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Franklin Pierce | 39,778 | 50.43 | 39,043 | 49.49 | no ballots | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Zachary Taylor | 44,054 | 55.17 | 35,772 | 44.80 | no ballots | 11 | |||||||||||||
| 39,287 | 47.61 | Henry Clay | 43,232 | 52.39 | — | 11 | |||||||||||||
| William Henry Harrison | 46,567 | 57.68 | 34,168 | 42.32 | — | 15 | |||||||||||||
| Martin Van Buren | 26,631 | 53.1 | 23,521 | 46.9 | various | no ballots | 15 | ||||||||||||
| Andrew Jackson | 25,261 | 84.77 | 4,538 | 15.23 | no ballots | 15 | |||||||||||||
| Andrew Jackson | 37,814 | 73.07 | 13,918 | 26.90 | — | 15 |
The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes (Andrew Jackson) did not become president, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.
| data-sort-type="number" | Year | Winner (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Votes | data-sort-type="number" | Percent | data-sort-type="number" | Electoral Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style"text-align:left" | Andrew Jackson | 20,231 | 56.03 | no ballots | no ballots | 15,622 | 43.26 | 15 |
In the election of 1820, incumbent President James Monroe ran effectively unopposed, winning all 15 of North Carolina's electoral votes, and all electoral votes nationwide except one vote in New Hampshire. To the extent that a popular vote was held, it was primarily directed to filling the office of vice president.
| data-sort-type="number" | Year | Winner (nationally) | Runner-up (nationally) | data-sort-type="number" | Electoral Votes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Monroe | — | 15 | Monroe effectively ran unopposed. | |||
| James Monroe | 15 | |||||
| James Madison | 15 | |||||
| James Madison | 14 | Electoral vote split, eleven for Madison, three for Pinckney. | ||||
| Thomas Jefferson | 14 | |||||
| Thomas Jefferson | 12 | Electoral vote split, eight for Jefferson, four for Adams. | ||||
| Thomas Jefferson | 12 | Electoral vote split, eleven for Jefferson, one for Adams. | ||||
| George Washington | — | 12 | Washington effectively ran unopposed. |
North Carolina did not participate in the 1788–89 United States presidential election, as it did not ratify the Constitution of the United States until months after the end of that election and after George Washington had assumed office as President of the United States.[1]