# United States presidential elections in North Carolina

Following is a table of United States presidential elections in North Carolina, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1789, North Carolina has participated in every U.S. presidential election except the election of 1864, during the American Civil War, when the state had seceded to join the Confederacy. North Carolina did not participate in the 1788–89 United States presidential election, as it did not ratify the Constitution of the United States until months after the end of that election and after George Washington had assumed office as President of the United States.
Winners of the state are in bold. The shading refers to the state winner, and not the national winner.

## Elections from 1864 to present

| Year | Winner (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Other national candidates | Votes | Percent | Electoral votes | Notes |
| 2024 | Donald Trump | 2,898,428 | 50.86 | Kamala Harris | 2,715,380 | 47.65 | — | | | 16 | |
| 2020 | Joe Biden | 2,684,292 | 48.59 | Donald Trump | 2,758,775 | 49.93 | — | | | 15 | |
| 2016 | Donald Trump | 2,362,631 | 49.83 | Hillary Clinton | 2,189,316 | 46.17 | — | | | 15 | |
| 2012 | Barack Obama | 2,178,391 | 48.35 | Mitt Romney | 2,270,395 | 50.39 | — | | | 15 | |
| 2008 | Barack Obama | 2,142,651 | 49.70 | John McCain | 2,128,474 | 49.38 | — | | | 15 | |
| 2004 | George W. Bush | 1,961,166 | 56.02 | John Kerry | 1,525,849 | 43.58 | — | | | 15 | |
| 2000 | George W. Bush | 1,631,163 | 56.03 | Al Gore | 1,257,692 | 43.2 | — | | | 14 | |
| 1996 | Bill Clinton | 1,107,849 | 44.04 | Bob Dole | 1,225,938 | 48.73 | Ross Perot | 168,059 | 6.68 | 14 | |
| 1992 | Bill Clinton | 1,114,042 | 42.65 | George H. W. Bush | 1,134,661 | 43.44 | Ross Perot | 357,864 | 13.7 | 14 | |
| 1988 | George H. W. Bush | 1,237,258 | 57.97 | Michael Dukakis | 890,167 | 41.71 | — | | | 13 | |
| 1984 | Ronald Reagan | 1,346,481 | 61.90 | Walter Mondale | 824,287 | 37.89 | — | | | 13 | |
| 1980 | Ronald Reagan | 915,018 | 49.30 | Jimmy Carter | 875,635 | 47.18 | John B. Anderson | 52,800 | 2.85 | 13 | |
| 1976 | Jimmy Carter | 927,365 | 55.27 | Gerald Ford | 741,960 | 44.22 | — | | | 13 | |
| 1972 | Richard Nixon | 1,054,889 | 69.46 | George McGovern | 438,705 | 28.89 | — | | | 13 | |
| 1968 | Richard Nixon | 627,192 | 39.51 | Hubert Humphrey | 464,113 | 29.24 | George Wallace | 496,188 | 31.26 | 13 | electoral vote split: 12 to Nixon, 1 to Wallace (faithless elector) |
| 1964 | Lyndon B. Johnson | 800,139 | 56.15 | Barry Goldwater | 624,844 | 43.85 | — | | | 13 | |
| 1960 | John F. Kennedy | 713,136 | 52.11 | Richard Nixon | 655,420 | 47.89 | — | | | 14 | |
| 1956 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 575,062 | 49.34 | Adlai Stevenson II | 590,530 | 50.66 | T. Coleman Andrews/ Unpledged Electors | — | — | 14 | |
| 1952 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 558,107 | 46.09 | Adlai Stevenson II | 652,803 | 53.91 | — | | | 14 | |
| 1948 | Harry S. Truman | 459,070 | 58.02 | Thomas E. Dewey | 258,572 | 32.68 | Strom Thurmond | 69,652 | 8.8 | 14 | |
| 1944 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 527,399 | 66.71 | Thomas E. Dewey | 263,155 | 33.29 | — | | | 14 | |
| 1940 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 609,015 | 74.03 | Wendell Willkie | 213,633 | 25.97 | — | | | 13 | |
| 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 616,141 | 73.40 | Alf Landon | 223,283 | 26.6 | — | | | 13 | |
| 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 497,566 | 69.93 | Herbert Hoover | 208,344 | 29.28 | — | | | 13 | |
| 1928 | Herbert Hoover | 348,923 | 54.94 | Al Smith | 286,227 | 45.06 | — | | | 12 | |
| 1924 | Calvin Coolidge | 191,753 | 39.73 | John W. Davis | 284,270 | 58.89 | Robert M. La Follette | 6,651 | 1.38 | 12 | |
| 1920 | Warren G. Harding | 232,848 | 43.22 | James M. Cox | 305,447 | 56.70 | Parley P. Christensen | — | — | 12 | |
| 1916 | Woodrow Wilson | 168,383 | 58.10 | Charles E. Hughes | 120,890 | 41.71 | — | | | 12 | |
| 1912 | Woodrow Wilson | 144,407 | 59.24 | Theodore Roosevelt | 69,135 | 28.36 | William H. Taft | 29,129 | 11.95 | 12 | |
| 1908 | William H. Taft | 114,887 | 45.49 | William Jennings Bryan | 136,928 | 54.22 | — | | | 12 | |
| 1904 | Theodore Roosevelt | 82,442 | 39.67 | Alton B. Parker | 124,091 | 59.71 | — | | | 12 | |
| 1900 | William McKinley | 132,997 | 45.47 | William Jennings Bryan | 157,733 | 53.92 | — | | | 11 | |
| 1896 | William McKinley | 155,122 | 46.82 | William Jennings Bryan | 174,408 | 52.64 | — | | | 11 | |
| 1892 | Grover Cleveland | 132,951 | 47.44 | Benjamin Harrison | 100,346 | 35.8 | James B. Weaver | 44,336 | 15.82 | 11 | |
| 1888 | Benjamin Harrison | 134,784 | 47.20 | Grover Cleveland | 147,902 | 51.79 | — | | | 11 | |
| 1884 | Grover Cleveland | 142,905 | 53.25 | James G. Blaine | 125,021 | 46.59 | — | | | 11 | |
| 1880 | James A. Garfield | 115,616 | 47.98 | Winfield S. Hancock | 124,204 | 51.55 | James B. Weaver | 1,126 | 0.47 | 10 | |
| 1876 | Rutherford B. Hayes | 108,484 | 46.38 | Samuel J. Tilden | 125,427 | 53.62 | — | | | 10 | |
| 1872 | Ulysses S. Grant | 94,772 | 57.38 | Horace Greeley | 70,130 | 42.46 | — | | | 10 | |
| 1868 | Ulysses S. Grant | 96,939 | 53.4 | Horatio Seymour | 84,559 | 46.6 | — | | | 9 | |
| 1864 | Abraham Lincoln | No vote due to secession. | | George B. McClellan | | | — | | | 9 | |

## Election of 1860

The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War.
| Year | Winner (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Electoral votes |
| 1860 | Abraham Lincoln | no ballots | | Stephen A. Douglas | 2,737 | 2.8 | John C. Breckinridge | 48,846 | 50.5 | John Bell | 45,129 | 46.7 | 10 |

## Elections from 1828 to 1856

| Year | Winner (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Other national candidates | Votes | Percent | Electoral votes |
| 1856 | James Buchanan | 48,243 | 56.78 | John C. Frémont | no ballots | | Millard Fillmore | 36,720 | 43.22 | 10 |
| 1852 | Franklin Pierce | 39,778 | 50.43 | Winfield Scott | 39,043 | 49.49 | John P. Hale | no ballots | | 10 |
| 1848 | Zachary Taylor | 44,054 | 55.17 | Lewis Cass | 35,772 | 44.80 | Martin Van Buren | no ballots | | 11 |
| 1844 | James K. Polk | 39,287 | 47.61 | Henry Clay | 43,232 | 52.39 | — | | | 11 |
| 1840 | William Henry Harrison | 46,567 | 57.68 | Martin Van Buren | 34,168 | 42.32 | — | | | 15 |
| 1836 | Martin Van Buren | 26,631 | 53.1 | Hugh Lawson White | 23,521 | 46.9 | various | no ballots | | 15 |
| 1832 | Andrew Jackson | 25,261 | 84.77 | Henry Clay | 4,538 | 15.23 | William Wirt | no ballots | | 15 |
| 1828 | Andrew Jackson | 37,814 | 73.07 | John Quincy Adams | 13,918 | 26.90 | — | | | 15 |

## Election of 1824

The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes (Andrew Jackson) did not become president, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.
| Year | Winner (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Electoral votes |
| 1824 | Andrew Jackson | 20,231 | 56.03 | John Quincy Adams | no ballots | | Henry Clay | no ballots | | William H. Crawford | 15,622 | 43.26 | 15 |

## Elections from 1792 to 1820

In the election of 1820, incumbent President James Monroe ran effectively unopposed, winning all 15 of North Carolina's electoral votes, and all electoral votes nationwide except one vote in New Hampshire. To the extent that a popular vote was held, it was primarily directed to filling the office of vice president.
| Year | Winner (nationally) | Runner-up (nationally) | Electoral votes | Notes |
| 1820 | James Monroe | — | 15 | Monroe effectively ran unopposed. |
| 1816 | James Monroe | Rufus King | 15 | |
| 1812 | James Madison | DeWitt Clinton | 15 | |
| 1808 | James Madison | Charles C. Pinckney | 14 | Electoral vote split, eleven for Madison, three for Pinckney. |
| 1804 | Thomas Jefferson | Charles C. Pinckney | 14 | |
| 1800 | Thomas Jefferson | John Adams | 12 | Electoral vote split, eight for Jefferson, four for Adams. |
| 1796 | John Adams | Thomas Jefferson | 12 | Electoral vote split, eleven for Jefferson, one for Adams. |
| 1792 | George Washington | — | 12 | Washington effectively ran unopposed. |

## Election of 1788 to 1789

North Carolina did not participate in the 1788–89 United States presidential election, as it did not ratify the Constitution of the United States until months after the end of that election and after George Washington had assumed office as President of the United States.