2016 North Carolina Attorney General election
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| Turnout | 68.98% | ||||||||||||||||
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   Stein: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Newton: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in North Carolina |
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The 2016 North Carolina election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the Attorney General of North Carolina, concurrently with the 2016 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.
Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper chose not to run for re-election to a fifth term in office, and instead successfully ran for Governor.[1]
Primary elections were held on March 15, 2016.
Democratic former state senator Josh Stein defeated Republican state senator Buck Newton in the general election.[2][3] With a margin of 0.4%, this was the closest attorney general race of the 2016 election cycle.
Democratic primary
[edit]Attorney Tim Dunn had announced in November 2014 that he planned to run for attorney general if Roy Cooper did not run for re-election.[4] Cooper did run for governor as expected, but Dunn did not make any further announcements and did not end up running.
Candidates
[edit]Declared
[edit]- Josh Stein, former state senator and former deputy attorney general of North Carolina[5]
- Marcus Williams, attorney, candidate for U.S. Senate in 2008 and 2010, candidate for NC-08 in 2012, and candidate for state senate in 2014[6]
Declined
[edit]- Roy Cooper, incumbent Attorney General (ran for Governor)[1]
- Tim Dunn, attorney and perennial candidate[4][7]
Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Josh Stein | 510,003 | 53.37 | |
| Democratic | Marcus Williams | 445,524 | 46.63 | |
| Total votes | 955,527 | 100.0 | ||
Republican primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]Declared
[edit]- Buck Newton, state senator[9][10]
- Jim O'Neill, Forsyth County District Attorney[11][12]
Declined
[edit]- George Rouco, attorney and former CIA officer (ran for NC-09)[13]
Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Buck Newton | 503,880 | 54.9 | |
| Republican | Jim O'Neill | 414,073 | 45.1 | |
| Total votes | 917,953 | 100.0 | ||
General election
[edit]Polling
[edit]| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Josh Stein (D) |
Buck Newton (R) |
Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA | October 28–31, 2016 | 659 | ± 3.9% | 47% | 43% | — | 10% |
| Public Policy Polling | October 21–22, 2016 | 875 | ± 3.3% | 44% | 39% | — | 17% |
| Civitas Institute | October 14–18, 2016 | 651 | ± 3.1% | 38% | 40% | — | 18% |
| Public Policy Polling | September 18–20, 2016 | 1,024 | ± 3.1% | 39% | 35% | — | 25% |
| Civitas Institute | September 11–12, 2016 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 37% | 35% | — | 26% |
| Public Policy Polling | August 5–7, 2016 | 830 | ± 3.4% | 39% | 38% | — | 23% |
| Civitas Institute | June 21–26, 2016 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 35% | 35% | — | 27% |
| Public Policy Polling | May 20–22, 2016 | 928 | ± 3.2% | 39% | 38% | — | 22% |
| RABA Research | April 27–28, 2016 | 688 | ± 3.7% | 40% | 33% | — | 27% |
| Civitas Institute | April 23–25, 2016 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 37% | 32% | 1% | 30% |
| Public Policy Polling | March 18–20, 2016 | 843 | ± 3.4% | 38% | 37% | — | 24% |
Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Josh Stein | 2,303,619 | 50.27% | −49.73% | |
| Republican | Buck Newton | 2,279,006 | 49.73% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 4,582,625 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
| Democratic hold | |||||
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Attorney General Announces Candidacy For Governor". Charlotte Observer. November 6, 2014. Archived from the original on November 8, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
- ^ "Josh Stein bests Buck Newton in attorney general race | The Wilson Times". Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
- ^ "NC SBE Contest Results". er.ncsbe.gov. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
- ^ a b "Inside Politics: Fayetteville lawyer plans run for state attorney general". The Fayetteville Observer. November 17, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
- ^ Knopf, Taylor (September 21, 2015). "State Sen. Josh Stein makes formal announcement for attorney general". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ^ Evans, Meghann (December 19, 2015). "Candidates file for state, local races Friday". Winston-Salem Journal. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
- ^ "Former Congressional candidate Tim Dunn of Fayetteville plans run for attorney general". The News & Observer. November 17, 2014. Archived from the original on December 25, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
- ^ "NC SBE Election Contest Details". er.ncsbe.gov. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
- ^ Campbell, Colin (March 13, 2015). "NC Sen. Buck Newton considers run for attorney general". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
- ^ Campbell, Colin (June 1, 2015). "NC Sen. Buck Newton to run for attorney general Sen. Buck Newton". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on December 6, 2018. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ^ Sexton, Scott (February 17, 2015). "Forsyth's prosecutor may emerge as contender for NC attorney general". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ^ Hewlett, Michael (September 15, 2015). "Forsyth District Attorney Jim O'Neill is running for state attorney general". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
- ^ Perlmutt, David (September 3, 2015). "Attorney George Rouco, a former CIA officer, to run against Rep. Pittenger in GOP Primary". The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
- ^ "NC SBE Election Contest Details". er.ncsbe.gov. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
- ^ "NC SBE Election Contest Details". er.ncsbe.gov. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.