page_title: 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina
section_title: District 7
hierarchical_section_title: 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina / District 7
caption_attribution_description: English: North Carolina congressional candidate Ilario Pantano
context_page_description: Elections were held on November 2, 2010 to determine North Carolina's 13 members of the United States House of Representatives. Representatives were elected for two-year-terms to serve in the 112th United States Congress from January 3, 2011 until January 3, 2013. Primary elections were held on May 4, 2010 and primary runoff elections were held on June 22, 2010.
  Of the 13 elections, the races in the 2nd, 8th and 11th districts were rated as competitive by Sabato's Crystal Ball, while the 2nd, 7th, 8th and 11th districts were rated as competitive by CQ Politics and The Rothenberg Political Report, and the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th and 11th districts were rated as competitive by The Cook Political Report. Of North Carolina's 13 incumbents, 12 were re-elected while one unsuccessfully sought re-election.
  In total, seven Democrats and six Republicans were elected. A total of 2,662,529 votes were cast, of which 1,440,913 were for Republican candidates, 1,204,635 were for Democratic candidates, 16,562 were for Libertarian candidates and 439 were for write-in candidates. As of 2016, this is the last time that Democrats won a majority of North Carolina's congressional districts.
context_section_description: The 7th district included Lumberton, Wilmington and part of Fayetteville. The district's population was 64 percent white, 21 percent black, 7 percent Native American and 6 percent Hispanic (see Race and ethnicity in the United States Census); 80 percent were high school graduates and 21 percent had received a bachelor's degree or higher. Its median income was $41,693. In the 2008 presidential election the district gave 52 percent of its vote to Republican nominee John McCain and 47 percent to Democratic nominee Barack Obama. In 2010 the district had a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+5.
  Democrat Mike McIntyre, who took office in 1997, was the incumbent. McIntyre was re-elected in 2008 with 69 percent of the vote. In 2010 McIntyre's opponent in the general election was Republican nominee Ilario Pantano, a former U.S. Marine who killed two unarmed Iraqi prisoners in 2004. McIntyre was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Will Breazeale, an airline pilot who was the Republican nominee in the 7th district in 2008, and Randy Crow also sought the Republican nomination.
  McIntyre raised $1,320,793 and spent $1,886,262. Pantano raised $1,234,943 and spent $1,224,496. Breazeale raised $53,034 and spent $52,402.
  In a poll of 400 likely voters, conducted on August 31 and September 2, 2010 by Public Opinion Strategies, Pantano led with 48 percent to McIntyre's 41 percent. A poll of 450 registered voters, conducted by SurveyUSA for the Civitas Institute in September 2010, found 46 percent intended to vote for Pantano while 45 percent supported McIntyre. In a poll of 400 likely voters, conducted by Grove Insight in October 2010 for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, McIntyre led with 52 percent to Pantano's 41 percent.
  In October 2010 The Cook Political Report rated the race as "lean Democratic" and CQ Politics rated the race as "leans Democratic". In November 2010 The Rothenberg Political Report rated the race as "Toss-up/Tilt Democrat". Prior to the election FiveThirtyEight's forecast gave McIntyre a 51 percent chance of winning and projected that he would receive 50.1 percent of the vote to Pantano's 49.9 percent.
  On election day McIntyre was re-elected with 54 percent of the vote to Pantano's 46 percent. McIntyre was again re-elected in 2012 and retired rather than seeking re-election in 2014. He was succeeded by Republican David Rouzer. Pantano unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in the 7th district in 2012 and in 2013 became the director of the North Carolina State Division of Veterans Affairs. Breazeale unsuccessfully ran for South Carolina Adjutant General in 2014.
caption: Ilario Pantano, who also ran in the 7th district
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