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NCAJ 2020 General Election Report

Tags: Election 2020
November 12, 2020

Updated on Jan. 13, 2021: Gov. Roy Cooper appointed Rep. Darren Jackson (D) Dist. 39 to a seat on the North Carolina Court of Appeals to fill the vacancy left by Justice Phil Berger Jr.’s election to the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Jackson was sworn in Jan. 6. Also, Gov. Cooper appointed Rep. Sydney Batch, who lost her re-election bid, to the Senate (D) Dist. 17 to fill the vacancy left when Sen. Sam Searcy resigned in December. Batch was sworn in Jan. 13. North Carolinians turned out in record numbers to vote in the 2020 General Election, with 74.56% of the state’s 7.359 million registered voters casting ballots. Per the North Carolina State Board of Elections, as of the morning of Nov. 12, there were about 133,000 uncounted votes in the state. Vote counts are expected to be finalized on or after Nov. 12. All results below are unofficial until the statewide canvass scheduled for Nov. 24. 

General Assembly

Congratulations to NCAJ Members re-elected to the General Assembly. We look forward to working with them in the coming term. 

Senate

  • Sen. Sydney Batch (D) Dist. 17
  • Sen. Danny Britt Jr. (R) Dist 13
  • Sen. Jay Chaudhuri (D) Dist 15
  • Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed (D) Dist 38
  • Sen. Wiley Nickel (D) Dist 16

House of Representatives

  • Rep. Terence Everitt (D), District 35
  • Rep. Destin Hall (R), District 87
  • Judge Darren Jackson, NC Court of Appeals
  • Rep. Robert Reives (D) Dist. 54, Dem Leader
  • Rep. Billy Richardson (D) Dist 44

Rep. David Rogers (R) Dist 112All names in bold below signify NCAJ-PAC supported candidates. The NCAJ PAC took deliberate and strategic actions to continue 2018 efforts in creating a balanced North Carolina government while at the same time preserving and building relationships with important legislative leaders. This is always a very delicate balancing act. From a primary read of the overall data and trends, it appears that all NCGA races benefited from the turnout of the Republican voter in North Carolina. While this was a year that many in our state’s Democratic Party hoped to flip at least one chamber, ultimately, in the House of Representatives, Democrats lost four seats, while gaining only one in the Senate. 

Senate 

The Democratic caucus was able to pick up one seat in the state Senate which will now be divided between 28 Republicans and 22 Democrats. New senators include:

  • Sen. Lisa Stone Barnes (R) – Johnston and Nash Cos.
  • Sen. Byrd Bazemore (D) – Northeastern North Carolina
  • Sen. Kevin Corbin (R) – Western North Carolina
  • Sen. Sarah Crawford (D) – Wake Co.
  • Sen. Amy Galey (R) – Alamance Co.
  • Sen. Steve Jarvis (R) – Davidson Co.
  • Sen. Michael Lazarra (R) – Jones and Onslow Cos.
  • Sen. Julie Mayfield (D) – Buncombe Co.
  • Sen. DeAndrea Salvador (D) – Mecklenburg Co.

House of Representatives

The Republican caucus in the State House managed to pick up four new seats, which increased their current majority of 65 to 69. Notable House incumbents who lost include:

  • Rep. Sydney Batch (D) – Wake Co.
  • Rep. Christy Clark (D) – Mecklenburg Co.
  • Rep. Joe Sam Queen (D) – Haywood, Jackson, Swain Cos.
  • Rep. Steve Ross (R) – Alamance Co.
  • Rep. Ray Russell (D) – Watauga Co.

There will be 19 new members of the State House. Sixteen of the 19 new faces are Republicans, and 3 are Democrats. A handful of these newly elected representatives have previously served in the House. These include: 

  • Former Rep. John Bradford (R) – Mecklenburg
  • Former Rep. Tim Moffitt (R) – Henderson
  • Former Rep. Grey Mills (R) – Iredell
  • Former Rep. Sam Watford (R) – Davidson

Council of State

Governor Roy Cooper (D) has retained his position while the role of lieutenant governor will now be filled by Mark Robinson (R), a first-time office-holder who gained fame in 2018 for espousing his avid support of gun rights. Robinson defeated established state politician Yvonne Lewis Holley (D) by a margin of 51 to 48 percent of the vote. The race for attorney general remains too close to call with incumbent Josh Stein (D) holding a 13,748-vote lead as of the morning of Nov. 10. Additional Council of State winners who were incumbents, include the following:

  • Secretary of State – Elaine Marshall (D)
  • Auditor – Beth Wood (D)
  • Treasurer – Dale Folwell (R)
  • Commissioner of Agriculture – Steve Troxler (R)
  • Commissioner of Insurance – Mike Causey (R)

The two other offices of the Council of State were without an incumbent:

  • Superintendent of Public Instruction – Catherine Truitt (R)
  • Commissioner of Labor – NCAJ member Jessica Holmes (D) challenged Rep. Josh Dobson. The election is currently considered too close to call, as Dobson has a 90,784-vote lead

Appellate Courts

With the exception of the seat of chief justice, seven seats on the appellate courts were swept by Republican candidates, with each race decided by 51 to 49% split. 

Supreme Court

The race for chief justice between incumbent Chief Justice Cheri Beasley (D) and Justice Paul Newby (R) remains too close to call with a current vote differential of 842. The second closest race was for Supreme Court Seat 2, which Phil Berger Jr. (R) currently leads over Justice Lucy Inman (D) by 73,202 votes. Tamara Barringer (R) defeated incumbent Justice Mark Davis (D) for Seat 4. 

Court of Appeals

The NCAJ PAC supported three of the successful Republican candidates and two unsuccessful Democratic candidates:

  • April C. Wood (R) defeated Tricia Shields (D) for Seat 4
  • Fred Gore (R) defeated Lora Christine Cubbage (D) for Seat 5
  • Chris Dillon (R) defeated Grey Steyers (D) for Seat 6
  • Jeff Carpenter (R) defeated Reuben F. Young (D) for Seat 7
  • Jefferson Griffin (R) defeated Chris Brook (D) for Judge Seat 13 

Please note that the NCAJ PAC endorsed both candidates in the race for Seat 13.

NCAJ PAC Analysis 

Based upon those candidates, NCAJ PAC candidates were 71% successful in the 2020 General Election. As North Carolina General Assembly prepares to enter the 2021-2022 legislative session, here is the forecasted make up:  Senate 28 Republicans 22 Democrats *2019-2020 membership was 29 Republicans and 21 Democrats   House of Representatives  69 Republicans   51 Democrats   *2019-2020 membership was 65 Republicans and 55 Democrats SHARE