2019 North Carolina's 3rd congressional district special election

See also: 2019 United States elections

A special election was held on September 10, 2019, to fill the vacancy in North Carolina's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for the remainder of the 116th United States Congress. Walter B. Jones Jr., the incumbent representative, died on February 10, 2019.^[1]

2019 North Carolina's 3rd congressional district special election

← 2018 September 10, 2019 2020 →
North Carolina's 3rd congressional district
Nominee Greg Murphy Allen M. Thomas Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 70,407 42,738 Percentage 61.74% 37.47%
County results Murphy:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Thomas:      50–60%
U.S. Representative before election Vacant (Walter B. Jones Jr. prior to his death on February 10, 2019) Republican Elected U.S. Representative Greg Murphy Republican

Parties held primaries to decide their nominees. In order to win a party nomination outright, under current state law, a candidate must exceed 30% of the vote to avoid a runoff (presuming that the second-place finisher calls for that runoff). There must be 30 days of absentee voting prior to each election, according to state law.^[2] Filing began on March 4 and ended March 8, as set by Governor Roy Cooper. Twenty-six candidates filed with the State Board of Elections by the filing deadline: 17 Republicans, 6 Democrats, 2 Libertarians, and 1 Constitution Party candidate.^[3] All candidates filed are affiliated with a political party.^[4] Five candidates advanced after the first primary elections: two Republicans, one Democrat, one Libertarian, and one Constitution Party candidate.

Cooper set the primary date of April 30, in which the Democrats selected Allen M. Thomas, Libertarians selected Tim Harris, and in the Constitution Party primary businessman Greg Holt won by default, but no Republican achieved 30% of the vote. Voting for the Republican primary runoff occurred on Tuesday, July 9, between two candidates that are both physicians, Greg Murphy and Joan Perry.^[5] Approximately 70 minutes after polls closed, Murphy was declared the winner by the Associated Press.

The general election was held on September 10, 2019. Murphy won the seat.^[6][7]

With the decision by the State Board of Elections to hold a new election to redo the 2018 U.S. House election in North Carolina's 9th district, this became one of two congressional district special elections in North Carolina in 2019, the other being the 9th district's special election held on the same day. This was the first time two U.S. House special elections were held in the same state on the same day (not on Election Day) since the May 3, 2008, elections in Louisiana's 1st district and 6th district.^[8]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Greg Murphy, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 9th district^[9][10]

Eliminated in runoff

• Joan Perry, pediatrician^[11]

Eliminated in primary

• Kevin Baiko, doctor^[11]
• Paul Beaumont, Currituck County Commissioner^[11]
• Graham Boyd, farmer^[12]
• Celeste Cairns, accountant^[11]
• Gary Ceres, library technician^[12]
• Chimer Davis Clark Jr., small businessman^[12]
• Don Cox, singer^[13]
• Francis De Luca, former president of Civitas Institute^[13]
• Phil Law, Marine Corps veteran and candidate for U.S. Representative in 2016 and 2018^[14][15]
• Jeff Moore, small businessman^[16]
• Michele Nix, Vice Chair of the North Carolina Republican Party^[17][18]
• Mike Payment, Currituck County Commissioner^[13]
• Eric Rouse, Lenoir County Commissioner^[13]
• Phil Shepard, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 15th district^[14]
• Michael Speciale, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 3rd district^[14]

Declined

• Harry Brown, member of the North Carolina Senate from the 6th district and incumbent North Carolina Senate Majority Leader^[9][19]
• George G. Cleveland, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 14th district^[20]
• Scott Dacey, former vice-chairman of the Craven County Board of Commissioners and candidate for U.S. Representative in 2018^[17]
• Pete Gilbert, Pasquotank County Republican Party Chairman^[21]
• Ed Goodwin, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 1st district^[21]
• Taylor Griffin, former aide to Jesse Helms and candidate for U.S. Representative in 2014 and 2016^[17]
• Bobby Hanig, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 6th district^[22]
• Chris Humphrey, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 12th district^[20]
• Keith Kidwell, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 79th district^[20]
• Pat McElraft, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 13th district^[20]
• Joe McLaughlin, former Onslow County Commissioner, candidate for U.S. Representative in 2008, candidate for North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance in 2016, and candidate for state representative in 2018^[20]
• Carl Mischka, chairman of the 3rd congressional district Republican Party Executive Committee^[17]
• Frank Palombo, candidate for U.S. Representative in 2012^[20]
• Norman W. Sanderson, member of the North Carolina Senate from the 2nd district^[20]
• Sandy Smith, small businesswoman^[23]
• Bob Steinburg, member of the North Carolina Senate from the 1st district^[21]
• Paul Wright, Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor Area 5 Dare County^[24]
• Ashley Woolard, 2010 Repubulican nominee for US Congress (NC-01)2010 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina, 2012 US presidential elector NC Third Congressional District List of 2012 United States presidential electors, former chairman Beaufort County Republican Party

Endorsements

Jeff Moore

Politicians

• Rand Paul, U.S. senator from Kentucky^[25]

Greg Murphy

Organizations

• Women for Trump^[26]

Politicians

• Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City^[27]
• Rick Santorum, former U.S. senator^[28]
• Mark Meadows, U.S. representative^[29]
• Jim Jordan, U.S. representative^[30]

Joan Perry

Organizations

• Susan B. Anthony List^[31]
• Winning for Women^[32]
• FreedomWorks^[33]
• Maggie's List^[34]

Politicians

• Liz Cheney, U.S. representative^[35]
• George Holding, U.S. representative^[36]
• Paul Stam, former member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 37th district^[37]
• Elise Stefanik, U.S. representative^[38]

First round

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Celeste Cairns	Phil Law	Jeff Moore	Greg Murphy	Joan Perry	Eric Rouse	Phil Shepard	Michael Speciale	Other	Undecided
Atlantic Media & Research (R)[39][A]	April 24–27, 2019	253	± 6.1%	2%	3%	6%	14%	9%	4%	7%	6%	5%[a]	44%

Results

Results by county:

  Murphy

•   10–20%
•   30–40%
•   60–70%

  Perry

•   10–20%
•   30–40%
•   50–60%

  Shepard

•   50–60%

  Speciale

•   10–20%
•   20–30%
•   40–50%

  Rouse

•   10–20%
•   20–30%

  Beaumont

•   10–20%

  Payment

•   20–30%

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Greg Murphy	9,530	22.51
	Republican	Joan Perry	6,536	15.44
	Republican	Phil Shepard	5,101	12.05
	Republican	Michael Speciale	4,022	9.50
	Republican	Phil Law	3,690	8.72
	Republican	Eric Rouse	3,258	7.70
	Republican	Jeff Moore	2,280	5.39
	Republican	Francis De Luca	1,670	3.95
	Republican	Celeste Cairns	1,467	3.47
	Republican	Chimer Davis Clark Jr.	1,092	2.58
	Republican	Michele Nix	915	2.16
	Republican	Graham Boyd	897	2.12
	Republican	Paul Beaumont	805	1.90
	Republican	Mike Payment	537	1.27
	Republican	Don Cox	251	0.59
	Republican	Kevin Baiko	171	0.40
	Republican	Gary Ceres	108	0.26
Total votes			42,330	100.0

Runoff

Results

Results by county:

  Murphy

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

  Perry

•   50–60%
•   70–80%

Republican primary runoff results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Greg Murphy	21,444	59.7
	Republican	Joan Perry	14,472	40.3
Total votes			35,916	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Allen M. Thomas, former mayor of Greenville and executive director of Global TransPark^[40]

Eliminated

• Richard Bew, former U.S. Marine Corps colonel^[41][42]
• Gregory Humphrey, former journalist^[11]
• Ike Johnson, Democratic nominee for State House district 14 in 2018^[43]
• Dana Outlaw, mayor of New Bern^[44]
• Ernest T. Reeves, Democratic nominee for North Carolina's 3rd congressional district in 2016^[11]

Declined

• Ollie Nelson, retired U.S. Marine, educator, and pastor^[23]
• George Parrott, businessman^[45]
• Scott Thomas, District Attorney for North Carolina's 4th prosecutorial district^[46]

Endorsements

Richard Bew

Politicians

• Seth Moulton, U.S. Representative (D-MA)^[47]

Individuals

• Amy McGrath, retired marine fighter pilot and nominee for KY-6 in 2018^[48]
• Richard Ojeda, former West Virginia State Senator and nominee for WV-3 in 2018^[49]

Organizations

• Equality North Carolina
• Serve America^[50]
• VoteVets.org^[51]

Allen M. Thomas

Politicians

• G. K. Butterfield, U.S. Representative (D-NC)^[52]

Results

Results by county:

  Thomas

•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

  Bew

•   40–50%
•   50–60%

  Johnson

•   30–40%

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Allen M. Thomas	12,933	49.96
	Democratic	Richard Bew	6,532	25.23
	Democratic	Dana Outlaw	3,268	12.63
	Democratic	Ike Johnson	1,774	6.85
	Democratic	Gregory Humphrey	695	2.68
	Democratic	Ernest T. Reeves	683	2.64
Total votes			25,885	100.0

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

• Shannon Bray, U.S. Navy veteran, author, cybersecurity expert^[53]
• Tim Harris, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, IT engineer, candidate for North Carolina Senate for the 2nd district in 2018^[54]

Results

Libertarian primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Libertarian	Tim Harris	75	55.97
	Libertarian	Shannon Bray	59	44.03
Total votes			134	100.0

Constitution primary

Candidates

Nominee (by default)

• Greg Holt, businessman^[12]

General election

During the early voting period for this election, Hurricane Dorian battered the eastern coast of the United States, necessitating early voting to be halted in several counties on the Outer Banks until the storm had passed. This also happened in the election for North Carolina's 9th congressional district.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[55]	Safe R	August 26, 2019
Inside Elections[56]	Safe R	September 4, 2019
Sabato's Crystal Ball[57]	Likely R	September 5, 2019

Endorsements

Greg Murphy (R)

Federal politicians

• Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States^[58]
• Mike Pence, 48th vice president of the United States^[59]
• Thom Tillis, U.S. senator (R-NC)^[60]
• Mark Meadows, U.S. Representative (R-NC)^[29]
• Jim Jordan, U.S. Representative (R-OH)^[61]

Individuals

• Donald Trump Jr., businessman^[62]
• Kayleigh McEnany, political commentator^[63]

Organizations

• Women for Trump^[26]
• National Right to Life^[64]
• National Federation of Independent Business^[65]

Allen M. Thomas (D)

Federal politicians

• Alma Adams, U.S. representative (D-NC)^[66]
• G. K. Butterfield, U.S. representative (D-NC)^[52]
• Bob Etheridge, former U.S. representative (D-NC)^[67]
• Julian Castro, former U.S. secretary of housing and urban development^[68]

Statewide, and local politicians

• Toby Fitch, state senator^[67]
• Jim Hunt, former governor of North Carolina^[69]
• Erica D. Smith, state senator^[70]

Organizations

• AFL–CIO^[67]
• Equality North Carolina^[71]
• Sierra Club North Carolina Chapter^[72]
• National Education Association^[67]

Individuals

• MrBeast American YouTuber and philanthropist

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Greg Murphy (R)	Allen M. Thomas (D)	Other	Undecided
GAJ Solutions (R)[73][B]	August 26–28, 2019	500	± 4.0%	51%	40%	3%[b]	6%

Hypothetical polling
with generic Republican and generic Democrat Poll source Date(s) administered Sample size Margin of error Generic Republican Generic Democrat Undecided Strategic Partners Solutions[74] May 18–19, 2019 400 ± 4.9% 49% 41% –

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of August 21, 2019
Candidate (party)	Total receipts	Total disbursements	Cash on hand
Greg Murphy (R)	$901,590.47	$803,487.06	$98,103.41
Allen M. Thomas (D)	$564,575.49	$476,025.52	$88,549.97
Source: Federal Election Commission[75]

Results

2019 North Carolina's 3rd congressional district special election^[76]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Greg Murphy	70,407	61.74	−38.26
	Democratic	Allen M. Thomas	42,738	37.47	N/A
	Constitution	Greg Holt	507	0.44	N/A
	Libertarian	Tim Harris	394	0.35	N/A
Total votes			'114,046'	'100'	N/A
	Republican hold

Despite the clear victory, 61.7% is the lowest Republican vote share in this district since 2012.

See also

• List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives

Notes

Partisan clients

1. Open-ended poll sponsored a "private client", likely Conservatives for a Better North Carolina, a super PAC supporting Phil Shepard
2. Poll conducted for RRH

Additional candidates

1. Paul Beaumont, Chimer Clark, Don Cox, and Francis De Luca with 1%; Kevin Baiko, Gary Ceres, Michele Nix, and Mike Payment with 0%
2. Harris (L) with 2% and Holt (C) with 1%