2020 United States presidential election in North Carolina
The 2020 United States presidential election in North Carolina was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. North Carolina voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote. The state was narrowly won by the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump of Florida, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden of Delaware, and his running  mate California Senator Kamala Harris. North Carolina has 15 electoral votes in the Electoral College. Polls of the state throughout the campaign indicated a close race, with most organizations considering it either a tossup or leaning towards Biden. Despite this, Trump ultimately won North Carolina by a 1.35% margin over Biden. This was Trump's narrowest victory in any state, and was a closer result than his 3.67% margin over Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Mitt Romney's 2.04% margin over Barack Obama in 2012. In the 2020 election, North Carolina was 5.8% right of the nation as a whole . The state last voted Democratic in the first election of Obama in 2008. Furthermore, it had last voted more Republican than neighboring Georgia in 2000. The rural-urban divide was even more prevalent this election than in past elections. Biden carried eight of North Carolina's ten largest counties (losing only the Charlotte-area suburban counties of Union and Gaston), and overperformed Obama's 2008 margin in the six largest: Wake, Mecklenburg, Guilford, Forsyth, Durham, and Buncombe, in which he received 62%, 67%, 61%, 56%, 80%, and 60% of the vote, respectively. Biden furthermore became the first Democrat to carry  New Hanover County, home of Wilmington, since 1976, and held Trump to a single-digit margin in the Charlotte-area suburban county of Cabarrus, the first time since 1976 that the Republican margin in this county has been less than 10%. Conversely, Trump held or outperformed his 2016 margin in Robeson, Bladen, Martin, Granville and Gates counties, all counties that had been reliably Democratic in the 20th century and which had voted for Obama twice before flipping to Trump in 2016. Biden thereby became the first Democrat ever to win the presidency without Robeson County, the largest county in the  Lumber River region of the state and the county which had given Jimmy Carter his largest raw vote margin in the state in both 1976 and 1980. Trump picked off neighboring Scotland County, one of only 15 counties he flipped nationally, becoming the first Republican to carry it since Ronald Reagan in 1984 and making Biden the first Democrat to win without Scotland since the county's creation in 1899. Biden also became the first Democrat to win the White House without Granville and Gates counties since 1892, the first since 1884 to win without Bladen County, the first since  1856 to win without Richmond County and the first ever to win without Martin County. Trump's victory was, alongside his victory (and actual improvement over 2016) in Florida, one of the upsets of the cycle. Data & election website FiveThirtyEight's election forecast had Biden up in both states, albeit by small margins. Similarly, prediction websites Inside Elections, Sabato Crystal Ball, The Economist, and ABC News all had Biden favored in the state. Primary elections. Presidential preference primaries were held on March 3, 2020 (First cases of COVID-19), for each of the political parties with state ballot access. Democratic primary . Despite speculation that he might seek the Democratic nomination, Roy Cooper, the Governor of North Carolina, declined to run. Republican primary. The North Carolina Republican Party submitted to the state only the name of incumbent President Donald Trump to be listed on the primary ballot. The campaign of Bill Weld "has written to the [state Board of Elections] asking to be added to the ballot, arguing that his candidacy meets the legal test because he’s received 'widespread news coverage,' raised more than $1.2 million, and has qualified for the primary ballot in six other states," according to the  News and Observer. Joe Walsh similarly petitioned the state board of elections. On Dec. 20, 2019, the state board unanimously voted to include both Weld and Walsh on the ballot. General election. Polling. Graphical summary Aggregate polls June 1 – October 31, 2020 January 1, 2020 – May 31, 2020 January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2019 Results. Results by congressional district. Trump won 8 of 13 congressional districts.