# 2004 North Carolina gubernatorial election

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vte :
The 2004 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2004. The general election was between the Democratic incumbent Mike Easley and the Republican nominee Patrick J. Ballantine. Easley won by 56% to 43%, winning his second term as governor.

## Primaries
### Democratic

Mike Easley was first elected as governor in 2000 and opted to run for a second term. He faced opposition in the Democratic primary from Rickey Kipfer, a former corporate manager from Lee County. Kipfer campaigned on a platform of abolishing North Carolina's personal income tax and exploring potential natural gas resources in the state. He envisioned the state replacing income tax revenue with revenue from natural gas exploration. Kipfer also proposed a system similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund as a means of distributing potential natural gas revenues to citizens in North Carolina.
Easley's campaign manager stated that they did not consider Kipfer as serious competition. Easley did not campaign against Kipfer.
Mike Easley won the primary comfortably with over 85% of the vote.

#### Candidates
##### Declared

* Mike Easley, incumbent governor
* Rickey Kipfer, businessman

#### Results

2004 North Carolina gubernatorial Democratic primary election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Mike Easley (incumbent) | 379,498 | 85.37 |
| | Democratic | Rickey Kipfer | 65,061 | 14.63 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 444,559 | 100 |

### Republican
#### Candidates
##### Declared

* Patrick J. Ballantine, Minority Leader of the North Carolina Senate (1999–2004)
* Dan Barett, attorney and Davie County Commissioner
* Bill Cobey, Chair of the North Carolina Republican Party (1999–2003) and U.S. Representative from NC-04 (1985–1987)
* George Little, insurance executive
* Fern Shubert, state senator (2003–2005)
* Richard Vinroot, Mayor of Charlotte (1991–1995), nominee for governor in 2000 and candidate for governor in 1996

##### Withdrawn

* Timothy Cook, chemist (running for lieutenant governor)

##### Declined

* James Cain, former president of the Carolina Hurricanes
* I. Beverly Lake Jr., Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court (2001–2006)

#### Results

2004 North Carolina gubernatorial Republican primary election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Patrick J. Ballantine | 110,726 | 30.38 |
| | Republican | Richard Vinroot | 109,217 | 29.97 |
| | Republican | Bill Cobey | 97,461 | 26.74 |
| | Republican | Dan Barrett | 19,097 | 5.24 |
| | Republican | Fern Shubert | 14,445 | 3.96 |
| | Republican | George Little | 13,474 | 3.70 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 364,420 | 100 |

## General election
### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Likely D | November 1, 2004 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Mike Easley (D) | Patrick Ballantine (R) | Other / Undecided |
| SurveyUSA | October 29–31, 2004 | 617 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 55% | 41% | 5% |

### Results

2004 North Carolina gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Mike Easley (incumbent) | 1,939,154 | 55.62% | +3.60% |
| | Republican | Patrick J. Ballantine | 1,495,021 | 42.88% | −3.38% |
| | Libertarian | Barbara Howe | 52,513 | 1.51% | +0.06% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,486,688 | | |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Swing | | |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Cleveland (largest town: Shelby)
* Polk (Largest city: Tryon)
* Rutherford (Largest city: Forest City)
* Surry (Largest city: Mount Airy)
* Mecklenburg (Largest city: Charlotte)
* Alleghany (largest town: Sparta)

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Currituck (largest town: Moyock)
* Johnston (largest town: Clayton)