Control of NC government is at stake in the 2020 elections. See who’s running.
Updated Dec. 16, 2019, with the latest filings. Read the final candidate list here.
Candidates for North Carolina races, including governor, Congress and the state legislature, are filing for office.
At the federal level, candidate filing opened Dec. 2 for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Thom Tillis and U.S. House races.
Beyond the presidential and congressional elections next year, at the state level voters will choose a new governor, lieutenant governor, Council of State and all 170 members of the General Assembly. Republicans will try to maintain their majority in both the House and Senate and even return to a veto-proof supermajority, while Democrats aim to take control of either or both chambers.
This past legislative session was a months-long budget battle between the legislature and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is running for reelection. State lawmakers adjourned in November without a budget becoming law.
US Senate race getting national attention
The U.S. Senate race in North Carolina for Tillis’ seat has already had money pouring into it and national attention for months. Tillis, a Republican, had faced primary challengers from within his party — Ayden farmer Sandy Smith and Raleigh businessman Garland Tucker, though Tucker has since dropped out.
A Libertarian, Shannon W. Bray, is running.
Democratic primary front-runners are Cal Cunningham and state Sen. Erica Smith. Cunningham and Smith filed for office, as did Mecklenburg County Commissioner Trevor Fuller and two other Democrats, Steve Swenson of Bunnlevel and Atul Goel of Raleigh. Steven Williams of Durham had also planned to run.
Cunningham, who has national Democratic backing, held a news conference in downtown Raleigh on the first day of filing. Cunningham talked about policy priorities including raising wages and investing in infrastructure and rural broadband. Cunningham said he wants to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and add a public option along with encouraging Medicaid expansion in North Carolina.
He criticized Tillis but did not mention Smith, who has been leading in recent polls. Smith polled slightly higher than Cunningham vs. Tillis in a Meredith College poll this past fall; and five percentage points higher in a Fox News poll.
Cunningham said he respects his primary opponents but plans to make his case directly to voters.
“I’m going to share my personal life experiences growing up in a small town, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, having engaged with voters and listened to make sure that the voices of this state are heard in Washington,” Cunningham said.
Smith released a statement noting she would be the first African American from North Carolina, and the third African American woman, to serve in the U.S. Senate.
“We can stop this slide into darkness and begin restoring a healthy, decent world — but only if Democrats field candidates next November who can inspire massive voter turnout among the young, the marginalized, people of color, women, and the rural poor,” she said.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is backing Cunningham, The News & Observer previously reported.
Tillis’ campaign sent out a news release about Smith and Cunningham, calling them his “impeachment obsessed challengers” who are “already backing radical, liberal policies that will disqualify them in the general election,” wrote Tillis spokesperson Andrew Romeo.
Tillis “will continue to work with President Trump to move the state forward, and we are confident that he will be reelected next November,” Romeo said in a statement.
Tillis told reporters when he filed for office on Dec. 9 that he was a “definite no” vote on impeachment of Trump.
New districts for US House
North Carolina’s districts for U.S. House, state House and state Senate were all redrawn by state lawmakers in 2019 after court orders.
The new congressional map redraws Raleigh Republican Rep. George Holding’s 2nd district into a Democratic-leaning district wholly contained in Wake County, so Holding won’t run in 2020.
Several Democrats had planned to run against Holding under the old map. Since judges approved the new map, former state Rep. Deborah Ross — who lost her 2016 U.S. Senate bid against Republican Richard Burr — announced her candidacy in the district. Wake County Public Schools board member Monika Johnson-Hostler confirmed she would continue her candidacy in the new district. Andrew Terrell, a former Obama administration official who led a UK trade office in Raleigh, has also filed to run in the race. Terrell, 32, would be the state’s first openly LGBT member of Congress.
On the Republican side, Alan D. Swain of Raleigh filed Dec. 12 to run for the seat.
The new 4th district will also include part of Wake County in a heavily Democratic district that also includes all of Durham, Orange, Franklin, Granville counties and parts of Chatham and Vance counties. It’s represented by David Price, who has filed for reelection. A Republican challenger, Debesh Sarkar, also has filed.
Governor, lieutenant governor, other races
The Council of State, which includes the governor and nine statewide elected cabinet positions, are elected separately and are frequently from different parties. Here’s who has filed or already announced plans to run.
Governor:
Cooper has two Republican challengers so far: Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and Rep. Holly Grange.
Lieutenant governor:
With Forest not running for reelection, the lieutenant governor candidate field is large, with more than a dozen candidates.
Republicans who have filed or previously announced include former U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers; Mark Johnson, now state superintendent; National Guard soldier Greg Gebhardt; Buddy Bengel, a New Bern businessman; former Mount Airy Mayor Deborah Cochran; former N.C. Rep. Scott Stone of Mecklenburg County, Mark Robinson of Greensboro and state Sen. Andy Wells of Hickory.
Democrats who have already announced campaigns include state Sen. Terry Van Duyn of Asheville, state Rep. Yvonne Lewis Holley of Raleigh, Hoke County Commissioner Allen Thomas, Charlotte lawyer Bill Toole, state Rep. Chaz Beasley of Charlotte and Ron Newton of Durham.
Attorney General:
Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, is seeking a second term. Two Republicans, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill and Sam Hayes, who served as general counsel for the Department of Environmental Quality and state treasurer’s office, are looking to challenge him.
Treasurer:
Treasurer Dale Folwell is seeking a second term. He’s being challenged by Democrats Matt Leatherman, Ronnie Chatterji and Charlotte City Council member Dimple Ajmera.
Secretary of State:
Incumbent Elaine Marshall is running for reelection, which would be her seventh term.
Republicans Chad Brown, E.C. Sykes and Michael LaPaglia are running against her.
Superintendent of Public Instruction:
Johnson, a Republican, is running for lieutenant governor. Two Republicans have announced they’ll run for his position: Rep. Craig Horn of Union County, who has played a major role in the legislature on education, and Catherine Truitt, former education advisor to Pat McCrory and the chancellor of Western Governors University North Carolina. The position has drawn several Democrats: Keith Sutton, Wake County Public School System Board of Education member; Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education member James Barrett; Constance Lav Johnson, an education consultant; Michael Maher, an assistant dean at N.C. State University; and Jen Mangrum, a UNC Greensboro professor.
Commissioner of Labor:
Incumbent Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry, a Republican in her fifth term, is not running. Candidates so far include Democrat Jessica Holmes, chair of the Wake County commissioners, state Rep. Josh Dobson, a McDowell County Republican, Gaston County Republican Pearl Burris-Floyd, and Chuck Stanley of Clarendon.
Commissioner of Agriculture:
Longtime incumbent Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, a Republican, is running for reelection. Democrats Donovan Alexander Watson and Jenna Wadsworth, a Wake County soil and water district supervisor, are looking to challenge him.
Commissioner of Insurance:
Incumbent Mike Causey, a Republican, is running for a second term. Also running are Democrat Wayne Goodwin, who served previously as insurance commissioner until defeated by Causey in 2016, and Republican Ronald Pierce of Charlotte.
Auditor:
Incumbent Beth Wood, a Democrat, is seeking another term. So far her Republican opponents are Tim Hoegemeyer, former general counsel to the Office of the State Auditor, and Anthony Wayne Street.
Wake lawmakers run for reelection, seek higher office
Most of the House delegation for Wake County — all Democrats — announced they would file this week.
House Minority Leader Darren Jackson and Reps. Allison Dahle, Rosa Gill, Grier Martin, Terence Everitt, Julie von Haefen, Sydney Batch, Joe John, Gale Adcock and Cynthia Ball sent out a joint statement Monday morning. Holley, also a Democrat in the Wake delegation, is running for lieutenant governor and was not part of the statement. Democrats Quanta Monique Edwards and Antoine Marshall also filed for House, as did Republican Erin Pare.
In the Senate, most of Wake County’s Democratic delegation — Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, Sen. Wiley Nickel, Sen. Jay Chaudhuri and Sen. Sam Searcy — are running again. Van Duyn is running for lieutenant governor. Democrat Angela Bridgman of Wendell filed to run for a district that is currently represented by Republican John Alexander, who is not running again.
Durham lawmakers file for reelection, plus two open seats
State Sen. Floyd McKissick Jr. is resigning to take the governor’s appointment to the N.C. Utilities Commission, so Durham County Democrats will appoint someone soon to fill his term. The primary field already has two Democratic candidates who have announced: Pierce Freelon, who previously ran unsuccessfully for mayor; and Natalie Murdock, who is serving as a Durham County soil and water district supervisor.
The rest of the Durham delegation — N.C. Rep. Marcia Morey, Rep. Zack Hawkins, Rep. Robert Reives and Sen. Mike Woodard — filed their reelection bids Monday. Rep. MaryAnn Black announced last week that should would not seek another term. Durham City Council member Vernetta Alston has filed to run for Black’s House seat.
Republican leadership files for reelection
State House Speaker Tim Moore, a Kings Mountain Republican, is running for another term. Moore has been a member of the General Assembly since 2002.
House Majority Leader John Bell filed to run for his seat that includes Greene and parts of Johnston and Wayne counties.
State Senate leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican in his 10th term, filed to run again.
Who’s not running again in House, Senate
Legislators who have recently announced they will not seek reelection include Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown, a Jacksonville Republican; Sen. Rick Gunn of Burlington and Rep. Debra Conrad of Winston-Salem.
Brown has been the lead state budget writer for Senate Republicans and has served eight terms.
Sen. Rick Horner, a Nash County Republican, announced that he would not seek another term, citing his district changing shape three times and possibly again. Horner said it was “simply not in the best interest of my family” to run again.
Judicial filing
Most of the well-known candidates for N.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals launched their campaigns months ago, but with multiple seats up for grabs on each court, it was unclear which seat each candidate might pick and who their opponent would be. As of Tuesday’s filings, the Democratic and Republican parties appear to have organized their candidate slates to avoid primaries between the prominent candidates:
▪ Two current Court of Appeals judges — Democrat Lucy Inman and Republican Phil Berger Jr. — will face off for the Supreme Court seat being vacated by Republican Justice Paul Newby.
▪ Newby is challenging incumbent Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, a Democrat who was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper.
▪ For the other available associate justice seat, former state Sen. Tamara Barringer, R-Wake, is challenging incumbent Justice Mark Davis, a Democrat appointed by Cooper to fill the seat when Beasley was elevated to chief justice.
There are five available seats on the Court of Appeals next year, and so far most of the races have attracted one candidate from each political party:
▪ Democrat Tricia Shields, an attorney and Campbell University Law School instructor, and Republican April Wood, a District Court judge from Davidson County, will compete for one of the seats where no incumbent has filed yet.
▪ Gray Styers, a Democrat and Raleigh attorney with the firm of Smith Moore Leatherwood, is challenging incumbent Republican Judge Chris Dillon. Styers clerked for Judge Sam Ervin III on the U.S. Court of Appeals and has served as campaign treasurer for a number of judges and Democratic candidates, including new Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin.
▪ Republican Superior Court Judge Jeff Carpenter of Union County is challenging incumbent Democratic Judge Reuben Young, who was recently appointed by Cooper to fill a vacancy.
▪ District Court Judge Fred Gore, a Republican from Brunswick County, is running for a seat opposite Democrat Lora Christine Cubbage, a Superior Court Judge from Greensboro.
▪ Incumbent Judge Chris Brook, a Democrat appointed by Cooper, filed for re-election. The seat is also being sought by Jefferson Griffin, a District Court judge from Wake County, who is deployed to the Middle East as a member of the N.C. National Guard.
Two incumbent judges whose terms are up in 2020, Linda McGee and Wanda Bryant (both Democrats), have not reopened their campaign accounts with the State Board of Elections.
Candidate filing ends at noon Dec. 20. The state primary is March 3.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Control of NC government is at stake in the 2020 elections. See who’s running.."
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