# 2012 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election

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vte :
The 2012 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the other elections to the Council of State and the gubernatorial election. Primary elections were held May 8. The offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor are elected independently. The incumbent, Lt. Gov. Walter H. Dalton, announced on Jan. 26, 2012 that he would run for Governor.
In the general election, Republican Dan Forest won 50.08% of the vote, narrowly defeating Democrat Linda Coleman. The election result was in doubt for almost two weeks after Election Day, and was within the margin in which Coleman could ask for a recount, but she chose not to do so on Nov. 19.
When he took office in January 2013, Forest became the state's first Republican lieutenant governor since Jim Gardner left office two decades earlier.

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Declared

* Linda Coleman, former state representative, state personnel director
* Eric L. Mansfield, state senator

#### Declined

* Cal Cunningham, former state senator
* Hampton Dellinger, attorney

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Linda Coleman | Eric Mansfield | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling | May 5–6, 2012 | 500 | ± 3.1% | 41% | 23% | 36% |
| Survey USA | April 26–30, 2012 | 560 | ± 4.2% | 41% | 23% | 36% |
| Public Policy Polling | April 27–29, 2012 | 500 | ± 4.4% | 39% | 18% | 43% |
| Public Policy Polling | April 20–22, 2012 | 500 | ± 4.4% | 28% | 16% | 56% |
| Public Policy Polling | March 23–25, 2012 | 505 | ± 4.36% | 26% | 14% | 59% |
| Public Policy Polling | February 29 – March 1, 2012 | 499 | ± 4.4% | 25% | 15% | 61% |

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Linda Coleman | 483,905 | 56.1 |
| | Democratic | Eric Mansfield | 378,635 | 43.9 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 862,540 | 100.0 |

## Republican primary
### Candidates

Declared
* Dale Folwell, state representative, former Winston-Salem School Board member, accountant and investment advisor
* Dan Forest, architect, son of Congresswoman Sue Myrick
* Tony Gurley, Wake County Commissioner, pharmacist, ex-race car driver
* Grey Mills, state representative
* Arthur Rich, businessman

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Dale Folwell | Dan Forest | Tony Gurley | Grey Mills | Arthur Rich | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling | May 5–6, 2012 | 496 | ± 4.4% | 22% | 17% | 18% | 9% | 2% | 32% |
| Survey USA | April 26–30, 2012 | 451 | ± 4.7% | 13% | 17% | 12% | 11% | 5% | 41% |
| Public Policy Polling | April 27–29, 2012 | 486 | ± 4.4% | 20% | 15% | 11% | 10% | 3% | 40% |
| Public Policy Polling | April 20–22, 2012 | 521 | ± 4.3% | 15% | 12% | 12% | 8% | 2% | 51% |

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Dan Forest | 251,885 | 32.9 |
| | Republican | Tony Gurley | 189,954 | 24.9 |
| | Republican | Dale Folwell | 185,535 | 24.3 |
| | Republican | Grey Mills | 112,063 | 14.7 |
| | Republican | Arthur Jason Rich | 25,015 | 3.3 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 764,452 | 100.0 |
Under state law, if no candidate receives 40 percent of the vote in the primary, the second-place candidate can request a second primary (runoff). According to unofficial May 8 primary election results, Gurley came in second, and he announced that he would request such a runoff.
Republican 2nd primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Dan Forest | 101,428 | 67.9 |
| | Republican | Tony Gurley | 47,978 | 32.1 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 149,406 | 100.0 |

## General election
### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Linda Coleman (D) | Dan Forest (R) | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling | November 3–4, 2012 | 926 | ± 3.2% | 44% | 45% | 11% |
| Public Policy Polling | October 29–31, 2012 | 730 | ± 3.6% | 41% | 43% | 16% |
| Public Policy Polling | October 12–14, 2012 | 1,084 | ± 3% | 37% | 38% | 26% |
| Civitas/National Research, Inc. | September 18–19, 2012 | 600 | ± 4% | 43% | 39% | 18% |
| Public Policy Polling | August 31 – September 1, 2012 | 1,012 | ± 3.1% | 41% | 39% | 20% |
| Public Policy Polling | August 2–5, 2012 | 813 | ± 3.4% | 37% | 38% | 26% |
| Public Policy Polling | May 10–13, 2012 | 666 | ± 3.8% | 41% | 40% | 20% |

### Results

General election results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Dan Forest | 2,187,728 | 50.08% |
| | Democratic | Linda Coleman | 2,180,870 | 49.92% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 4,368,598 | 100.00% |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic |

#### By congressional district

Forest won 10 of the state's 13 congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat.
| District | Forest | Coleman | Representative |
| 1st | 26% | 74% | G. K. Butterfield |
| 2nd | 57% | 43% | Renee Ellmers |
| 3rd | 56% | 44% | Walter B. Jones Jr. |
| 4th | 28% | 72% | David Price |
| 5th | 59% | 41% | Virginia Foxx |
| 6th | 57% | 43% | Howard Coble |
| 7th | 57% | 43% | Mike McIntyre |
| 8th | 56% | 44% | Larry Kissell |
| 8th | 56% | 44% | Richard Hudson |
| 9th | 58% | 42% | Sue Myrick |
| 9th | 58% | 42% | Robert Pittenger |
| 10th | 58% | 42% | Patrick McHenry |
| 11th | 60% | 40% | Heath Shuler |
| 11th | 60% | 40% | Mark Meadows |
| 12th | 21% | 79% | Mel Watt |
| 13th | 56% | 44% | Brad Miller |
| 13th | 56% | 44% | George Holding |

## Footnotes

* ↑ WXII
* ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections Unofficial Results retrieved Nov 12, 2012
* ↑ WRAL.com: Republican Forest claims lieutenant governor win
* ↑ News & Observer: Linda Coleman to run for lieutenant governor
* ↑ "Fayetteville Observer: Sen. Eric Mansfield of Fayetteville to run for N.C. lieutenant governor". Archived from the original on February 14, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
* ↑ News & Observer: Cal Cunningham decides against bid for state's No. 2 post
* ↑ News & Observer: Hampton Dellinger won't run
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ Survey USA
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ NC State Board of Elections
* ↑ News & Observer: Hopefuls angle for Republican hopefuls angle for lieutenant governor Archived 2012-05-09 at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ "Forest Kicks Off Campaign For Lt. Governor". WXII-TV. January 9, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
* ↑ "News & Observer: Gurley files papers for Lt. Governor bid". Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
* ↑ News & Observer: State Rep. Grey Mills files for lieutenant governor
* ↑ WRAL.com
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ Survey USA
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ Results. North Carolina
* ↑ Poll suggests GOP headed toward runoff in Lt. Gov. and Auditor races Archived 2012-05-01 at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ Tony Gurley statement
* ↑ Election results. North Carolina
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ Civitas/National Research, Inc.
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ Public Policy Polling
* ↑ NC State Board of Elections
* ↑ "North carolina 2012 lt-gov-by-cd".