North Carolina

NORTH CAROLINA	15 Electoral Votes
	North Carolina went from 14 electoral votes to 15 as a result of the 2000 Census

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, North Carolina State Board of Elections)

Total Population, July 1, 2004 est.	8,541,221
Total Registration, Nov. 2004 >	5,519,992

Dem. 2,582,462 (46.78%) Rep. 1,903,199 (34.48%) Lib. 12,754 (0.23%) Unaffil. 1,021,648 (18.51%)
White 4,224,098 (76.52%) Black 1,112,959 (20.16%) Other 182,935 (3.31%)
North Carolina has: 100 counties.
Five largest counties: Mecklenburg, Wake, Guilford, Forsyth, Cumberland.
Five largest cities: Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham.

Government
Governor: Michael F. Easley (D) elected in 2000, re-elected in 2004.
State Legislature: North Carolina General Assembly House: 120 seats Senate: 50 seats
Local: Cities and Towns, Counties, another Local Gov't page NACO Counties
U.S. House: 7R, 6D - 1. G.K. Butterfield (D) - elected 07/20/04 to succeed F.Ballance who resigned eff. 06/11/04 | 2. B.Etheridge (D) | 3. W.B.Jones (R) | 4. D.Price (D) | 5. R.Burr (R) | 6. H.Coble (R) | 7. M.McIntyre (D) | 8. R.Hayes (R) | 9. S.Myrick (R) | 10. C.Ballenger (R) | 11. C.Taylor (R) | 12. M.Watt (D) | 13. B.Miller (D).
U.S. Senate: Elizabeth Dole (R) elected in 2002, John Edwards (D) retired in 2004.

Gov. Mike Easley (D) was re-elected, defeating Patrick Ballantine (R) by 1,939,154 votes to 1,495,021 and 52,513 to the Libertarian (55.62% to 42.88% and 1.51%). In the U.S. Senate race, Rep. Richard Burr (R) defeated Democrat Erskine Bowles by 1,791,450 votes to 1,632,527 with 47,743 to the Libertarian and 362 for a write-in (51.60% to 47.02% and 1.38%). Virginia Foxx (R) defeated Jim A. Harrell, Jr. (D) in the 5th CD and Patrick McHenry (R) defeated Anne N. Fischer (D) in the 10th CD.

The Tar Heel State

State of North Carolina
State Board of Elections

Libertarian Party of NC
NC Democratic Party
NC Greens
NC Republican Party
Natural Law Party-NC
Reform Party-NC
Constitution Party-NC

The Charlotte Observer
The News & Observer
Media (Newsp.)
Media (TV)

Politics1-NC
The Insider

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	1,961,166	(56.02)
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)	1,525,849	(43.58)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.)	11,731	(0.34)
Ralph Nader (w/in)	1,805	(0.05)
Brown/Herbert (w/in)	348	(0.01)
David Cobb (w/in)	108	-
Total........3,501,007

2004 Overview
The Democratic ticket has not carried North Carolina since Jimmy Carter did in 1976, but Sen. Kerry's selection of Sen. Edwards as his running mate put the Tar Heel State into play. However the result was nearly the same as in 2000, as Bush amassed a plurality of 435,317 votes (12.44 percentage points).
General Election Details
Kerry/Allies | Bush-Cheney '04

(Primary: July 20, 2004. In Feb. 2004, the Board of Elections moved the primary back from May 4, 2004 because legislative district boundaries had yet to be approved).

Past Results

1996

Dole (Rep.)...........1,225,938	(48.73)
Clinton (Dem.).......1,107,849	(44.04)
Perot (Ref.)..............168,059	(6.68)
Others (2+w/ins)........13,961	(0.55)
Total........2,515,807

1992

Bush (Rep.)..........1,134,661
(43.34)

Clinton (Dem.).......1,114,042
(42.65)

Perot (Unaff.)...........357,864
(13.70)

Others (Marrou+w/ins).5,283
(0.21)

Total........2,611,850

2000

Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)	1,257,692	(43.20)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	1,631,163	(56.03)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)	12,307	(0.42)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)	8,874	(0.30)
McReynolds/Hollis	1,226	(0.04)
Total........2,911,262

In 1999, the NC General Assembly passed legislation to allow in-person, no-excuse absentee voting. A voter could vote at any designated Absentee One-Stop voting site in his or her county from Oct. 16 to Nov. 3, 2000. 393,152 people did so. In addition there were 72,447 civilian absentee by mail votes and 3,766 military absentee returns.

2000 Overview
North Carolina, which went Republican by a very narrow margin in 1992, and a close but wider margin in 1996, went solidly into the GOP column in 2000, as Bush-Cheney secured a plurality of 373,471 votes (12.83 percentage points). Bush carried 75 counties to 25 for Gore. Bush won every county in the western part of the state and all the counties along the coast; Gore carried a cluster of 8 counties in the SE and another cluster of 17 counties in the NE. North Carolina did not see much activity at the presidential level, with the exception of the second presidential debate, held on Oct. 11 at Wake Forest University.
General Election Activity

Notes: North Carolina's onerous ballot access requirements -- 51,324 signatures by May 17, 2000 -- resulted in a limited range of choices for the state's voters. After the Nader campaign fell short, it went to court seeking an injunction to put him on the ballot. U.S. District Judge W. Earl Britt turned down their request (Aug. 9 ruling), and an appeal to the 4th Circuit likewise proved unsuccessful (Sept. 15).

Democrats: Caucuses April 17, 2004 107 delegates and 14 alternates.
Republicans: No contest.

2000 page>>