North Carolina Attorney General election, 2016
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North Carolina held an open election for attorney general on November 8, 2016. Josh Stein (D) won the election, keeping the attorney general's seat in Democratic hands.
Overview
As the state's chief legal officer, the attorney general provides legal representation and advice to all state government departments, agencies and commissions, writes legal opinions and litigates in criminal appeals cases. North Carolina has been under Republican trifecta control since Governor Pat McCrory (R) assumed office in 2013. A Republican had not won election to the office of attorney general in North Carolina in over 100 years.
Four-term incumbent Roy Cooper (D) did not run for re-election, having chosen instead to challenge incumbent Pat McCrory (R) in the 2016 gubernatorial race. State Sen. Buck Newton defeated Jim O'Neill in the March 15 Republican primary election. Former state Sen. Josh Stein, who resigned from his senate seat to pursue the attorney general's office, defeated Marcus W. Williams in the Democratic primary election. Newton and Stein competed for the seat in the November 8 general election. Stein had a significant fundraising lead over Newton as of pre-primary campaign finance reports.
Despite the open race, the Republican legislature's low approval rates and Democrats' dominance in this office made it an extremely difficult seat to flip in 2016. Stein won the general election on November 8, 2016.
Candidates
General election candidates
Josh Stein (D)
State senator, 2009-2016
Buck Newton (R)
State senator since 2011
| Click [show] to view candidates who were defeated in the primary elections. | |||
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Results
General election
Josh Stein defeated Buck Newton in the North Carolina attorney general election.
| North Carolina Attorney General, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Josh Stein |
50.22% | 2,276,410 | |
| Republican | Buck Newton | 49.78% | 2,256,178 | |
| Total Votes | 4,532,588 | |||
| Source: ABC11 | ||||
Primary elections
Primary election results
| North Carolina Attorney General Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Josh Stein |
53.4% | 510,003 | ||
| Marcus W. Williams | 46.6% | 445,524 | ||
| Total Votes | 955,527 | |||
| Election results via North Carolina State Board of Elections. | ||||
| North Carolina Attorney General Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Buck Newton |
54.9% | 503,880 | ||
| Jim O'Neill | 45.1% | 414,073 | ||
| Total Votes | 917,953 | |||
| Election results via North Carolina State Board of Elections. | ||||
Context of the 2016 election
Incumbent Roy Cooper (D)
Though eligible, incumbent Attorney General Roy Cooper declined to seek re-election, choosing instead to run for the governorship. Cooper was first elected in 2000 after easily defeating Republican Dan Boyce. He went on to also easily defeat Republican challengers Joe Knott and Bob Crumbly in 2004 and 2008, respectively. He ran unopposed in 2012.
Prior to his tenure as attorney general, Cooper had served ten years in the State Senate and four years in the North Carolina House.
Party control in North Carolina
North Carolina had been under Republican trifecta control since Governor Pat McCrory (R) assumed office in 2013. This represented a fairly rapid shift in partisan control for the state, which had been under Democratic trifecta control as recently as 2010. North Carolina's electoral votes went to the Republican presidential candidate in every election cycle since 1980, with the exception of 2008 when the state voted to elect Barack Obama (D).[6] North Carolina began attracting significant attention as a presidential battleground state with Obama's unexpected 2008 win in the state—the first Democratic candidate to do so since Jimmy Carter (D) in 1976. For the past two presidential elections, the state's presidential preference influenced statewide elections. This influence, coupled with the recent trend of close elections in the state, promised competitive races in 2016.
Both Republican and Democratic candidates gained success in recent elections. Democrat Bev Perdue won the gubernatorial election and Democrat Kay Hagan defeated incumbent Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole in 2008. The state swung back to Republicans in 2012 when Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney narrowly beat President Obama by a margin of 2 percentage points. McCrory defeated his Democratic rival by a small margin of victory that same year. The trend of close statewide elections in North Carolina continued into 2014: Republican Thom Tillis narrowly defeated incumbent Senator Kay Hagan (D) in a statewide race that year, earning 48.8 percent of the vote to Hagan's 47.3 percent.[7]
A Republican has not held the attorney general seat in North Carolina since James H. Carson, Jr. Carson was appointed in 1974 to fill a vacancy left by Democrat Robert Burren Morgan, who resigned after winning election to the U.S. Senate. In fact, a Republican had not won election to this office in over 100 years.[8] Carson ran for election to a full term in 1974 but lost to Democrat Rufus Edmiston.[9] Despite the open race, Democrats' strong incumbency advantage in this office made it a difficult seat for Republicans to flip in 2016.
Race background
Candidate field
The 2016 race for North Carolina attorney general was open due to incumbent Roy Cooper's decision to run for governor. Cooper, a Democrat first elected to the position in 2000, has won four consecutive terms as the state's chief legal official. In his most recent bid for re-election, in 2012, Cooper ran unopposed in both the primary and general election.[10] The popular long-time attorney general was critical of Republican Gov. Pat McCrory since McCrory succeeded Democrat Beverly Perdue in 2012.
Cooper began laying the groundwork for a campaign against McCrory in late 2013. In May 2015, he confirmed that he would run for governor instead of seeking a fifth term as attorney general. He called the upcoming gubernatorial race "a battle for the heart and soul of North Carolina. That's when we take the state back from the extremists."[11][12]
Prior to the November 2016 general elections, North Carolina was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas.
With Cooper out of the picture, North Carolina Senators Buck Newton (R) and Josh Stein (D), who won their parties' primary elections on March 15, competed for the attorney general seat on November 8.[13][14] Stein resigned his senate seat on March 21, 2016, in order to focus on his campaign.[15] Stein won the general election on November 8, 2016.
Primary candidates
Democrats
Former state Sen. Josh Stein (D) defeated Robeson County attorney Marcus W. Williams (D) in the Democratic primary. Stein resigned from his senate seat on March 21, 2016, in order to focus on his campaign for attorney general.[15]
Stein was elected to the senate in 2008 and had pointed out his history of being an advocate for consumer protection laws during his four terms as a state senator as qualification for the attorney general seat. According to his campaign website, his priorities were public safety, consumer protection and the environment.[16] Stein also served as a deputy attorney general prior to his election to the state senate.[17]
Williams was previously a 2014 Democratic candidate for District 13 of the North Carolina State Senate and a 2012 Democratic candidate for the 8th Congressional District of North Carolina.[18] He lost both elections, but used his campaign to bring attention to issues affecting black voters. If elected, Williams promised stricter enforcement of environmental protection laws and greater police accountability.[17]
Republicans
State Senator Buck Newton (R) defeated Forsyth County district attorney Jim O'Neill (R) in the Republican primary.
O'Neill had characterized his opponent as lacking experience. “I have prosecuted every case imaginable under the sun, and hands down, I’m the most battle-tested candidate in the race" he said in February 2016.[19] O'Neill and Newton butted heads in 2014 over legislation backed by Newton that moved the State Bureau of Investigation into the Department of Public Safety. The bureau had previously been under the purview of the attorney general, where O'Neill said it belongs.[20]
"It's a very important agency...and it's very important we remove politics from it," Newton responded on the matter.[20] He also pointed to his experience as a legislator and attorney as preparation for the duties of the attorney general, which, he said, do not include prosecution. Newton is a private practice lawyer and was elected to the state senate in 2010.[20]
Campaigns
Campaign finance
General election candidates
| Josh Stein Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| 2015 Year End Semi-Annual | January 26, 2016 | $1,114,063.72 | $503,467.18 | $(129,113.55) | $1,488,417.35 | ||||
| 2016 First Quarter | March 7, 2016 | $1,488,417.35 | $157,292.12 | $(154,404.18) | $1,419,305.29 | ||||
| 2016 Second Quarter | 06/30/2016 | $1,419,305.29 | $1,178,648.34 | $(542,345.30) | $2,127,608.33 | ||||
| 2016 Third Quarter | 10/22/2016 | $2,127,608.33 | $1,898,269.31 | $(3,050,158.73) | $975,718.91 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $3,737,676.95 | $(3,876,021.76) | ||||||||
| Buck Newton Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| 2015 Year End Semi-Annual | January 29, 2016 | $212,526.7 | $152,528.8 | $(197,829.47) | $167,226.13 | ||||
| 2016 First Quarter | March 7, 2016 | $167,226.13 | $73,907.3 | $(193,037.57) | $48,095.86 | ||||
| 2016 Second Quarter | 06/30/2016 | $55,926.56 | $303,396.62 | $(130,221.48) | $229,101.70 | ||||
| 2016 Third Quarter | 10/22/2016 | $229,101.70 | $379,714.58 | $(294,705.37) | $258,618.33 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $909,547.3 | $(815,793.89) | ||||||||
Primary candidates
| Marcus W. Williams Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| 2016 First Quarter | $0 | $2,781.09 | $(2,781.09) | $0 | |||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $2,781.09 | $(2,781.09) | ||||||||
| Jim O'Neill Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| 2015 Year End Semi-Annual | January 29, 2016 | $93,940.61 | $187,077.51 | $(51,378.93) | $229,639.19 | ||||
| 2016 First Quarter | March 7, 2016 | $229,639.19 | $82,487 | $(259,874.03) | $52,252.16 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $269,564.51 | $(311,252.96) | ||||||||
Polls
| The candidates for attorney general are Republican Buck Newton and Democrat Josh Stein. If the election was today, who would you vote for? | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Buck Newton (R) | Josh Stein (D) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling March 18, 2016-March 20, 2016 | 37% | 38% | 24% | +/-3.4% | 843 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Do you approve or disapprove of the job the General Assembly is doing? | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Approve | Disapprove | Not sure | Margin of Error | Sample Size | ||||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling March 18, 2016-March 20, 2016 | 18% | 52% | 30% | +/-3.4% | 843 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted on this issue. Those displayed are a sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Satellite spending
Groups unaffiliated with candidates or campaigns—such as political action committees, super PACs, nonprofit public welfare organizations, and labor unions—often spend money to influence the outcome of an election. This satellite spending can take the form of express advocacy, which encourages votes for or against a candidate, or issue advocacy, which supports broad political or social issues. Some groups are restricted on which kind of advocacy they can engage in based on their tax status.
Disclosure regulations vary from state to state and vary based on type of organization, complicating the process of determining a comprehensive picture of all spending in a given election.
For example, nonprofits are not always required to disclose their donors to the government; they submit financial information to the federal government through regular tax filings with the Internal Revenue Service, which are only publicly available through a Freedom of Information Act request. Other organizations are required to report election expenditures to a state elections division.
| North Carolina Attorney General, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Organization | Amount spent | Type of spending |
| Republican Attorneys General Association[21] | $3,800,000 | Ads supporting Buck Newton (R) |
| Total known expenditures: | $3,800,000 | |
| Note: All figures are estimates. Know of any other instances of satellite spending? Tell us! | ||
Campaign media
Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any? Tell us!
Democrats
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Republicans
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Endorsements
Republican candidates
Below were key endorsements for Newton and O'Neill.[22][23]
| Key endorsements | |
|---|---|
| Newton | O'Neill |
| House Speaker Timothy K. Moore (R) | North Carolina Police Benevolent Association |
| State Senator Kathy Harrington (R) | Charlotte Observer |
| Grass Roots North Carolina | |
About the office
The attorney general of North Carolina is an elected constitutional office in the executive branch of the North Carolina state government. As the state's chief legal officer, the attorney general provides legal representation and advice to all state government departments, agencies and commissions, writes legal opinions and litigates in criminal appeals cases. The attorney general is elected in presidential election years and has no term limit.[24]
| Helpful Facts About U.S. State Attorneys General |
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Incumbent
The incumbent was Democrat Roy Cooper. Cooper was first elected attorney general in 2000 and won re-election three times—in 2004, 2008, and 2012.[26]
Authority
The North Carolina Constitution establishes the office of attorney general in Article III, Section 7:
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(1) Officers. A Secretary of State, an Auditor, a Treasurer, a Superintendent of Public Instruction, an Attorney General, a Commissioner of Agriculture, a Commissioner of Labor, and a Commissioner of Insurance shall be elected by the qualified voters of the State in 1972 and every four years thereafter, at the same time and places as members of the General Assembly are elected. Their term of office shall be four years and shall commence on the first day of January next after their election and continue until their successors are elected and qualified. ... |
Powers of the office
The attorney general, in addition to serving as the state's chief legal advisor, heads the North Carolina Department of Justice. The duties and responsibilities of office are dictated by the state constitution and state statutes:
- represent the state and its officials, departments, agencies and commissions in all civil matters
- provide legal opinions, when requested by the general assembly, governor or other state official
- assist judges, district attorneys, magistrates and municipal and county attorneys
- handle criminal appeals from state trial courts
Qualifications
Article III, Section 7 also outlines the qualifications for the attorney general:
| ... (7) Special Qualifications for Attorney General. Only persons duly authorized to practice law in the courts of this State shall be eligible for appointment or election as Attorney General. |
- A candidate for attorney general must be authorized to practice law in North Carolina.
Past elections
2012
| Attorney General of North Carolina General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Roy Cooper Incumbent |
100% | 2,828,941 | |
| Total Votes | 2,828,941 | |||
| Election results via NC State Board of Elections | ||||
To view the full electoral history for Attorney General of North Carolina, click [show] to expand the full section. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms North Carolina attorney general election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
State profile
| Demographic data for North Carolina | ||
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 10,035,186 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 48,618 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 69.5% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 21.5% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 2.5% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 1.2% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.4% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 8.8% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 85.8% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 28.4% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $46,868 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 20.5% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in North Carolina. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
North Carolina voted Republican in five out of the six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, six are located in North Carolina, accounting for 2.91 percent of the total pivot counties.[27]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. North Carolina had six Retained Pivot Counties, 3.31 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More North Carolina coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in North Carolina
- United States congressional delegations from North Carolina
- Public policy in North Carolina
- Influencers in North Carolina
- North Carolina fact checks
- More...
See also
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North Carolina government: |
Previous elections: |
Ballotpedia exclusives: |
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The primary for U.S. congressional elections was rescheduled to June 7, 2016, following legal challenges to North Carolina's district maps. State races were unaffected.
- ↑ The Dispatch, "GOP party leader files for commissioner," accessed March 3, 2012
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Primary Candidate List Grouped by Contest," accessed March 7, 2014
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Candidate Listing 2016/03/15," accessed December 22, 2015
- ↑ Jim O'Neill, "Candidate for Attorney General," accessed December 22, 2015
- ↑ National Archives and Records Administration, "Historical Election Results," accessed September 15, 2016
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "11/04/2014 Official General Election Results - Statewide," accessed August 30, 2015
- ↑ Carolana.com, "North Carolina State Government - Attorney General," accessed September 23, 2016
- ↑ Our Campaigns, " Attorney General - History," accessed September 15, 2016
- ↑ North Carolina Department of Justice, "Attorney General biography," accessed September 15, 2012
- ↑ Charlotte Observer, "Roy Cooper calls Gov. Pat McCrory, GOP lawmakers ‘extremists’," November 7, 2014
- ↑ ansonrecord.com, "Cooper announces run for governor," May 18, 2015
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Josh Stein eyeing NC Attorney General race," November 27, 2013
- ↑ The News & Observer, "NC Sen. Buck Newton launches run for attorney general," June 1, 2015
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 The News&Observer, "Stein leaves NC Senate seat to focus on attorney general campaign," accessed March 21, 2016
- ↑ Josh Stein for Attorney General, "Meet Josh," accessed March 12, 2016
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Carolina Journal, "Democratic A.G. Primary Pits Insider Versus 'Perennial Candidate,' February 26, 2016
- ↑ The Dispatch, "GOP party leader files for commissioner," accessed March 3, 2012
- ↑ Winston-Salem Journal, "Forsyth County DA Jim O'Neill seeks Attorney General; says he's the most qualified," February 26, 2016
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 WRAL.com, "Senator, prosecutor seek Republican nod for AG," March 3, 2016
- ↑ Facing South, "Fueled by corporate cash, GOP attorneys general group spends millions in N.C.," June 30, 2016
- ↑ The News & Observer, "NC Sen. Buck Newton launches run for attorney general," June 1, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Buck Newton," accessed March 9, 2016
- ↑ North Carolina Department of the Attorney General, "About DOJ," accessed April 20, 2015
- ↑ The Book of States, "Table 4.20: Qualifications for Office," last updated March 2012
- ↑ North Carolina Department of Justice, "Attorney Ray Cooper: Biography," May 16, 2011
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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