2016 North Carolina Council of State election


Elections were held in North Carolina on November 8, 2016, to select the ten officers of the North Carolina Council of State. This elections coincided with the presidential election, elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the Senate and state elections to the General Assembly and judiciary. Primary elections were held March 15.
The ten members of the North Carolina Council of State are statewide-elected officers serving four-year terms. The pre-election partisan makeup of the Council of State consisted of 6 Democrats and 4 Republicans. After the election, the partisan makeup was reversed, with 6 Republicans and 4 Democrats winning. Three incumbents were defeated: Governor Pat McCrory, Superintendent of Public Education June Atkinson, and Commissioner of Insurance Wayne Goodwin.
Additionally, Republicans flipped the Treasurer in an open race from the Democrats, while Democrats held the open Attorney General race.

Governor

Republican Pat McCrory, the incumbent, faced Democratic nominee Roy Cooper, the incumbent North Carolina attorney general, and Libertarian nominee Lon Cecil in the general election. Cooper won with 49% of the vote.

Lieutenant governor

Republican Dan Forest, the incumbent, faced Democratic nominee Linda Coleman, a former director of the Office of State Personnel, former state representative and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2012, and Libertarian nominee Jacki Cole in the general election. Forest won with more than 51% of the vote.

Attorney general

Democrat Roy Cooper, the incumbent, ran for governor.
Josh Stein, state senator and former deputy attorney general of North Carolina, was the Democratic nominee for the post, and Buck Newton, another state senator, was the Republican nominee. Stein won with just over 50% of the vote.

Secretary of State

Democrat Elaine Marshall, the incumbent, ran for a sixth term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Republican primary

Candidates

State Auditor

Democrat Beth Wood, the incumbent, ran for reelection to a third term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Republican primary

Candidates

  • Chuck Stuber, former FBI special agent

General election

Results

Stuber called for a recount even before the election results were officially certified, and it seemed likely that the margin of difference between the candidates would remain well under the 10,000-vote threshold that a recount requires. But as the recount neared completion and the outcome remained the same, Stuber conceded the election on Dec. 9.

State Treasurer

Janet Cowell, a Democrat and the incumbent Treasurer, announced she would not run for reelection.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Republican primary

Candidates

General election

Results

Folwell became the first North Carolina State Treasurer elected from a party other than the Democratic Party since William H. Worth, a Populist, was elected in 1896.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Democrat June Atkinson, the incumbent, ran for a fourth term in 2016. When it was believed that Atkinson was not going to run for re-election, State Rep. Tricia Cotham was considered a potential Democratic candidate.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Republican primary

Candidates

General election

Results

Johnson became the first Republican elected Superintendent since 1896, when Charles H. Mebane was elected.

Commissioner of Agriculture

Republican Steve Troxler, the incumbent, ran for a fourth term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

  • Walter Smith, former mayor of Boonville, former USDA official and nominee in 2012

Republican primary

Candidates

General election

Results

Steve Troxler received more votes than any other candidate in North Carolina in 2016. As of 2021, this is the last statewide election in which the Republican candidate won Wake County and Chatham County.

Commissioner of Labor

Republican Cherie Berry, the incumbent, ran for reelection to a fifth term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Republican primary

Candidates

Commissioner of Insurance

Democrat Wayne Goodwin, the incumbent, ran for re-election to a third term in 2016.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Republican primary

Candidates

General election

Results

Causey became the first Republican ever elected to the office of North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance.