# 1990 United States Senate election in North Carolina

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vte :
The North Carolina United States Senate election of 1990 was held on November 6, 1990, as part of the nationwide elections to the Senate. The general election was fought between the Republican incumbent Jesse Helms and the Democratic nominee former mayor of Charlotte Harvey Gantt. Helms won re-election to a fourth term by a slightly wider margin than the close election in 1984.
The election received renewed attention in 2020 with the release of ESPN miniseries The Last Dance, which mentioned Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan refusing to endorse Gantt, who was seeking to become the first African-American to represent North Carolina - Jordan's home state - in the United States Senate.

## Primaries
### Republican primary

1990 North Carolina U.S. Senate Republican primary election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Jesse Helms (Incumbent) | 157,345 | 84.32% | −6.33% |
| | Republican | L. C. Nixon | 15,355 | 8.23% | N/A |
| | Republican | George Wimbish | 13,895 | 7.45% | −1.90% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 186,595 | | |

### Democratic primary

1990 North Carolina U.S. Senate Democratic primary election – First round :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Harvey Gantt | 260,179 | 37.52% | N/A |
| | Democratic | Mike Easley | 209,934 | 30.27% | N/A |
| | Democratic | John Ingram | 120,990 | 17.45% | −8.78% |
| | Democratic | R. P. Thomas | 82,883 | 11.95% | N/A |
| | Democratic | Lloyd Gardner | 11,528 | 1.66% | N/A |
| | Democratic | Robert Hannan | 7,982 | 1.15% | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 693,496 | | |
1990 North Carolina U.S. Senate Democratic primary election – Second round :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Harvey Gantt | 273,567 | 56.89% | +19.37% |
| | Democratic | Mike Easley | 207,283 | 43.11% | +12.84% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 480,850 | | |

## General election

The Helms campaign against black Democratic nominee Harvey Gantt was racially charged, as he focused on messaging of black people taking jobs from white people. He ran an advertisement in which a white person was denied a job due to racial quotas. Carter Wrenn, who was involved in the ad's creation, stated that "We played the race card".
60% of white voters supported Helms while 94% of black voters supported Gantt.

### Results

1990 North Carolina U.S. Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Jesse Helms (Incumbent) | 1,089,012 | 52.58% | +0.92% |
| | Democratic | Harvey Gantt | 981,573 | 47.39% | −0.42% |
| | Socialist Workers | Rich Stuart | 681 | 0.03% | −0.08% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,071,266 | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |