2024 North Carolina gubernatorial election

The 2024 North Carolina gubernatorial election will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect the governor of North Carolina, concurrently with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various other state and local elections. Democratic state attorney general Josh Stein and Republican lieutenant governor Mark Robinson are seeking their first term in office. The winner will succeed incumbent Democratic governor Roy Cooper, who is term-limited and can not seek re-election to a third consecutive term in office. This is the only Democratic-held governorship up for election in 2024 in a state Donald Trump won in 2020. Primary elections took place on March 5, 2024.

Background
A typical swing state, North Carolina is considered to be a purple to slightly red southern state at the federal level. Both U.S. senators from the state are members of the Republican Party. Its U.S. House delegation is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats and Republicans both hold multiple statewide offices in North Carolina. In the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump carried North Carolina by 1.34 percentage points.

Incumbent Roy Cooper was first elected in 2016, defeating then-incumbent governor Pat McCrory by about 0.2 points. Cooper was re-elected in 2020 by 4.5 percentage points.

The 2024 election is expected to be highly competitive due to a variety of factors: North Carolina is a purple to slightly red state, the election is taking place in a presidential election year, and the seat is open due to the incumbent facing term-limits. The Democratic nominee is Josh Stein, the current state Attorney General. The Republican nominee is Mark Robinson, the current lieutenant governor.

Nominee

 * Josh Stein, North Carolina Attorney General (2017–present)

Eliminated in primary

 * Chrelle Booker, Tryon city councilor (2019–present) and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022
 * Gary Foxx, former Princeville police chief
 * Michael R. Morgan, former North Carolina Supreme Court justice (2016–2023)
 * Marcus Williams, attorney and perennial candidate

Declined

 * Sydney Batch, state senator from the 17th district (2021–present) (endorsed Stein)
 * Jeff Jackson, U.S. Representative from NC's 14th congressional district (2023–present) (endorsed Stein, running for Attorney General)
 * Natalie Murdock, state senator from the 20th district (2020–present) (endorsed Stein)
 * Robert T. Reives II, Minority Leader of the North Carolina House of Representatives (2021–present) from the 54th district (2014–present) (endorsed Stein)

Results
[[File:North_Carolina_Governor_Democratic_Primary,_2024.svg|thumb|300x300px|Results by county:Stein

{{legend|#162d50|Stein—80–90%}}

{{legend|#214478|Stein—70–80%}}

{{legend|#2c5aa0|Stein—60–70%}}

{{legend|#3771c8|Stein—50–60%}}

{{legend|#5f8dd3|Stein—40–50%}}

{{legend|#87aade|Stein—30–40%}}Morgan

{{legend|#37c871|Morgan—50–60%}}

{{legend|#5fd38d|Morgan—40–50%}}]]

Nominee

 * Mark Robinson, Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina (2021–present)

Eliminated in primary

 * Dale Folwell, North Carolina State Treasurer (2017–present)
 * Bill Graham, attorney and candidate for governor in 2008

Withdrawn

 * Jesse Thomas, retired healthcare executive (ran for Secretary of State)
 * Mark Walker, former U.S. Representative from NC's 6th congressional district (2015–2021) and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022 (ran for U.S. House)
 * Andy Wells, former state senator and candidate for lieutenant governor in 2020

Declined

 * Thom Tillis, U.S. Senator from North Carolina (2015–present) (endorsed Graham)

Results
[[File:North_Carolina_Governor_Republican_Primary,_2024.svg|thumb|300x300px|Results by county:Robinson

{{legend|#501616|Robinson—80–90%}}

{{legend|#782121|Robinson—70–80%}}

{{legend|#a02c2c|Robinson—60–70%}}

{{legend|#c83737|Robinson—50–60%}}

{{legend|#d35f5f|Robinson—40–50%}}]]

Nominee

 * Mike Ross, treasurer of the North Carolina Libertarian Party

Eliminated in primary

 * Shannon Bray, cybersecurity professional and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2020 and 2022

Results
[[File:North Carolina Governor Libertarian Primary, 2024.svg|thumb|300px|Results by county: {{legend|#CE9B1E|Ross}}

{{legend|#856800|Ross—100%}}

{{legend|#B98A35|Ross—80–90%}}

{{legend|#CE9B1E|Ross—70–80%}}

{{legend|#DEB02A|Ross—60–70%}}

{{legend|#F1C92A|Ross—50–60%}} {{legend|#2CB283|Bray}}

{{legend|#063A27|Bray—100%}}

{{legend|#199268|Bray—70–80%}}

{{legend|#2CB283|Bray—60–70%}}

{{legend|#47CC9D|Bray—50–60%}} {{legend|#AE8BB1|Tie}}

{{legend|#AE8BB1|Tie—50–60%}}]]

Nominee

 * Wayne Turner, co-chair of the North Carolina Green Party

General election
Republican Robinson and Democrat Stein will face each other in the general election. With the backing of former President Donald Trump, Robinson has received heavy criticism from Democrats over statements on abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, and education. Robinson has also made a series of controversial statements before and after taking public office. Robinson has even received criticism from some Republicans, including U.S. Senator Thom Tillis and primary opponent Dale Folwell, both of whom declined to endorse Robinson.

Endorsements
Endorsements in bold were made after the primary elections.

Polling

 * Josh Stein vs. Mark Robinson vs. Mike Ross vs. Wayner Turner


 * Josh Stein vs. Dale Folwell


 * Josh Stein vs. Bill Graham


 * Josh Stein vs. Mark Walker


 * Generic Democrat vs. generic Republican