2016 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election

The 2016 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2016, to elect the Lieutenant Governor 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. Primary elections were held March 15.^[1]

2016 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election

← 2012 November 8, 2016 2020 →

Nominee Dan Forest Linda Coleman Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,393,515 2,093,380 Percentage 51.8% 45.3%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Forest:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Coleman:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%

Lieutenant Governor before election Dan Forest Republican Elected Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest Republican

In North Carolina, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are elected separately.

Incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest ran for re-election to a second term in office.^[2] Linda Coleman was the Democratic nominee, making the general election a rematch of the 2012 contest that Forest won by a narrow margin.

Forest won re-election to a second term, despite Republican Governor Pat McCrory losing reelection by a narrow margin.^[3]

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Dan Forest, incumbent Lieutenant Governor^[2]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Linda Coleman, former Director of the Office of State Personnel, former State Representative and nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2012^[4]
• Holly Jones, Buncombe County Commissioner^[5]
• Ron Newton, tax attorney and financial services company owner^[6]
• Robert Wilson, former North Carolina Assistant Secretary of State^[7]

Declined

• Gene McLaurin, former State Senator and former Mayor of Rockingham^[8][9]
• Steve Rao, Morrisville Town Councilman^[10][11]
• Chris Rey, Mayor of Spring Lake (running for U.S. Senate)^[12][13]
• James Taylor, Winston-Salem City Council Member^[14][15][16]

Results

Primary results by county:

Coleman

•   Coleman—71-80%
•   Coleman—61-70%
•   Coleman—51-60%
•   Coleman—41-50%
•   Coleman—31-40%

Jones

•   Jones—71-80%
•   Jones—51-60%
•   Jones—41-50%
•   Jones—31-40%

Wilson

•   Wilson—41-50%
•   Wilson—31-40%

Democratic primary results^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Linda Coleman	500,128	51.1
	Democratic	Holly Jones	281,132	28.7
	Democratic	Robert Wilson	102,870	10.5
	Democratic	Ronald Newton	94,312	9.7
Total votes			978,442	100.0

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

• Jacki Cole, marketing/sales professional ^[18]

Withdrawn

• J.J. Summerell, chairman of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina^[19] (running for Congress instead of for Lt. Governor)^[20]

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Dan Forest (R)	Linda Coleman (D)	Other	Undecided
SurveyUSA[21]	October 28–31, 2016	659	± 3.9%	49%	42%	2%	7%
Public Policy Polling[22]	October 21–22, 2016	875	± 3.3%	41%	37%	4%	19%
Civitas Institute[23]	October 14–18, 2016	651	± 3.1%	37%	32%	9%	17%
Public Policy Polling[24]	September 18–20, 2016	1,024	± 3.1%	38%	35%	4%	23%
Civitas Institute[25]	September 11–12, 2016	600	± 4.0%	35%	39%	4%	21%
Public Policy Polling[26]	August 5–7, 2016	830	± 3.4%	37%	37%	5%	20%
Public Policy Polling[27]	June 20–21, 2016	947	± 3.2%	37%	37%	4%	22%
Civitas Institute[28]	May 21–23, 2016	600	± 4.0%	36%	36%	3%	24%
Public Policy Polling[29]	May 20–22, 2016	928	± 3.2%	38%	38%	5%	19%
Public Policy Polling[30]	April 22–24, 2016	960	± 3.2%	38%	37%	6%	19%
Public Policy Polling[31]	March 18–20, 2016	843	± 3.4%	33%	36%	—	25%
Public Policy Polling[32]	July 2–6, 2015	529	± 4.3%	43%	36%	—	21%
Public Policy Polling[33]	May 28–31, 2015	561	± 4.1%	41%	37%	—	23%
Public Policy Polling[34]	April 2–5, 2015	751	± 3.6%	40%	36%	—	24%
Public Policy Polling[35]	February 24–26, 2015	849	± 3.4%	40%	35%	—	25%

Results

^[36]

North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Dan Forest (incumbent)	2,393,514	51.81%	+1.73%
	Democratic	Linda Coleman	2,093,375	45.32%	−4.60%
	Libertarian	Jacki Cole	132,645	2.87%	N/A
Total votes			4,619,534	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold