The North Carolina Council of State is a group of ten executive officials in the state government of North Carolina elected popularly every presidential election year. A list of the offices and current officeholders is as follows:
- Governor:
Pat McCrory (R)- Lieutenant Governor:
Dan Forest (R)- Secretary of State:
Elaine Marshall (D)- Attorney General:
Roy Cooper (D)- Commissioner of Agriculture:
Steve Troxler (R)- Commissioner of Insurance:
Wayne Goodwin (D)- Commissioner of Labor:
Cherie Berry (R)- Superintendent of Public Instruction:
June Atkinson (D)- State Treasurer:
Janet Cowell (D)- State Auditor:
Beth Wood (D)In the primary held on March 15, twelve of the twenty possible major party nominations for offices on the Council of State saw competitive elections, with all eight other nominations being uncontested. Here are the results:
Primary for Governor (R)
✓ Pat McCrory - 81.76%
C. Robert Brawley - 10.59%
Charles Kenneth Moss - 7.65%
Primary for Governor (D)
✓ Roy Cooper - 68.76%
Ken Spaulding - 31.24%
Primary for Lieutenant Governor (R)
✓ Dan Forest - Unopposed
Primary for Lieutenant Governor (D)
✓ Linda Coleman - 51.13%
Holly Jones - 28.76%
Robert Earl Wilson - 10.49%
Ronald L. Newton - 9.62%
Primary for Secretary of State (R)
✓ Michael LaPaglia - 61.57%
A. J. Daoud - 38.43%
Primary for Secretary of State (D)
✓ Elaine Marshall - Unopposed
Primary for Attorney General (R)
✓ Buck Newton - 54.92%
Jim O'Neill - 45.08%
Primary for Attorney General (D)
✓ Josh Stein - 53.45%
Marcus W. Williams - 46.55%
Primary for Commissioner of Agriculture (R)
✓ Steve Troxler - 68.81%
Andy Stevens - 31.19%
Primary for Commissioner of Agriculture (D)
✓ Walter Smith - Unopposed
Primary for Commissioner of Insurance (R)
✓ Mike Causey - 41.21%
Joe McLaughlin - 32.95%
Ronald (Ron) Pierce - 25.85%
Primary for Commissioner of Insurance (D)
✓ Wayne Goodwin - Unopposed
Primary for Commissioner of Labor (R)
✓ Cherie Berry - Unopposed
Primary for Commissioner of Labor (D)
✓ Charles Meeker - 56.61%
Mazie Ferguson - 43.39%
Primary for Superintendent of Public Instruction (R)
✓ Mark Johnson - 53.38%
Rosemary Stein - 32.85%
J. Wesley Sills - 13.78%
Primary for Superintendent of Public Instruction (D)
✓ June Atkinson - 79.85%
Henry J. Pankey - 20.15%
Primary for State Treasurer (R)
✓ Dale Folwell - Unopposed
Primary for State Treasurer (D)
✓ Dan Blue III - 58.46%
Ron Elmer - 41.54%
Primary for State Auditor (R)
✓ Charles Stuber - Unopposed
Primary for State Auditor (D)
✓ Beth Wood - Unopposed
More information on the election results can be found at
er.ncsbe.gov.
Strangely enough, Pat McCrory was the only candidate in a contested primary to win every county.
Excluding third party and independent candidates (which I will cover in the general election thread), these will be the match-ups for each election:
Governor: Pat McCrory (R) vs. Roy Cooper (D)
Lieutenant Governor: Dan Forest (R) vs. Linda Coleman (D)
Secretary of State: Michael LaPaglia (R) vs. Elaine Marshall (D)
Attorney General: Buck Newton (R) vs. Josh Stein (D)
Commissioner of Agriculture: Steve Troxler (R) vs. Walter Smith (D)
Commissioner of Insurance: Mike Causey (R) vs. Wayne Goodwin (D)
Commissioner of Labor: Cherie Berry (R) vs. Charles Meeker (D)
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Mark Johnson (R) vs. June Atkinson (D)
State Treasurer: Dale Folwell (R) vs. Dan Blue III (D)
State Auditor: Charles Stuber (R) vs. Beth Wood (D)Major party match-ups for Lieutenant Governor, Commissioner of Agriculture, and Commissioner of Insurance are identical to those in 2012.
