2024 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election
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The 2024 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2024, to elect the lieutenant governor of North Carolina. Democratic state senator Rachel Hunt won her first term in office, defeating Republican state official Hal Weatherman. She succeeded Republican incumbent Mark Robinson, who did not seek re-election in order to unsuccessfully run for governor.[1]
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November 5, 2024
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| Turnout | 73.73%  1.62 pp | ||||||||||||||||
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   Hunt: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Weatherman: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Tie: 40–50% No votes | |||||||||||||||||
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In her party's primary, Hunt won the Democratic nomination with 70% of the vote over former state Senator Ben Clark and businessman Mark H. Robinson (no relation to the incumbent). Weatherman won the Republican nomination with 74% of the vote over Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neil in a runoff after no candidate received over 30% of the vote in his party's primary. Hunt won the general election with 49.5% the vote to Weatherman's 47.6%, making her the first Democrat elected lieutenant governor of North Carolina since Walter H. Dalton in 2008.
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Hal Weatherman, businessman and former chief of staff to Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest[2]
Eliminated in runoff
- Jim O'Neill, Forsyth County District Attorney and nominee for attorney general in 2020[3]
Eliminated in primary
- Deanna Ballard, former state senator from the 45th district[4]
- Peter Boykin, political commentator and founder of Gays for Trump[5]
- Rivera Douthit, evangelist[6]
- Jeffrey Elmore, state representative from the 94th district[7]
- Allen Mashburn, pastor[2]
- Marlenis Hernandez Novoa, paramedic and firefighter[6]
- Sam Page, Rockingham County sheriff[8]
- Ernest T. Reeves, businessman and perennial candidate[9]
- Seth Woodall, attorney[10]
Withdrawn
- Jim Kee, former Greensboro city councilor[11] (ran for state auditor)[12]
Declined
- Mark Robinson, incumbent lieutenant governor (endorsed Weatherman, ran for governor)[13][1]
Endorsements
Jeffrey Elmore
- Newspapers
Allen Mashburn
- Organizations
Hal Weatherman
- State officials
- Mark Robinson, lieutenant governor of North Carolina (2021-2025), nominee for Governor in 2024[13]
- Newspapers
Polling
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Deanna Ballard |
Jeffrey Elmore |
Jim O'Neill |
Sam Page |
Hal Weatherman |
Seth Wooddall |
Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Point University[17] | February 16–23, 2024 | 386 (LV) | ± 6.0% | 10% | 11% | 27% | 13% | 7% | 11% | 21%[b] | – |
| Capen Analytics[18] | February 21, 2024 | 12,580 (LV) | ± 5.0% | 15% | 8% | 16% | 8% | 21% | 18% | 15%[c] | 3% |
| Cygnal (R)[19][A] | October 8–9, 2023 | 600 (LV) | ± 3.9% | 3% | 1% | – | 4% | 4% | 2% | 2%[d] | 84% |
Results
Weatherman
- 40–50%
- 30–40%
- 20–30%
- 10–20%
O'Neill
- 40–50%
- 30–40%
- 20–30%
- 10–20%
Ballard
- 50–60%
- 40–50%
- 30–40%
- 20–30%
- 10–20%
Page
- 50–60%
- 40–50%
- 30–40%
- 20–30%
Mashburn
- 20–30%
Elmore
- 50–60%
- 30–40%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Hal Weatherman | 181,818 | 19.59% | |
| Republican | Jim O'Neill | 147,042 | 15.84% | |
| Republican | Deanna Ballard | 138,822 | 14.96% | |
| Republican | Seth Woodall | 102,492 | 11.04% | |
| Republican | Sam Page | 94,810 | 10.22% | |
| Republican | Allen Mashburn | 83,550 | 9.00% | |
| Republican | Jeffrey Elmore | 79,883 | 8.61% | |
| Republican | Peter Boykin | 32,126 | 3.46% | |
| Republican | Rivera Douthit | 23,398 | 2.52% | |
| Republican | Ernest T. Reeves | 22,760 | 2.45% | |
| Republican | Marlenis Hernandez Novoa | 21,404 | 2.31% | |
| Total votes | 928,105 | 100.0% | ||
Runoff results
Weatherman
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 80–90%
- >90%
O'Neill
- 50–60%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Hal Weatherman | 96,600 | 74.44% | |
| Republican | Jim O'Neill | 33,448 | 25.72% | |
| Total votes | 130,048 | 100.0% | ||
Democratic primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Rachel Hunt, state senator from the 42nd district and daughter of former governor Jim Hunt[22]
Eliminated in primary
- Ben Clark, former state senator from the 21st district and nominee for North Carolina's 9th congressional district in 2022[12]
- Mark H. Robinson, businessman (no relation to incumbent lieutenant governor Mark Robinson)[23]
Withdrawn
- Delmonte Crawford, civil rights activist[24] (ran for mayor of Raleigh)[25]
- Chris Rey, former mayor of Spring Lake and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2016[12]
- Raymond Smith Jr., former state representative from the 21st district[24] (ran for mayor of Goldsboro)[26]
Endorsements
Rachel Hunt
Polling
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Ben Clark |
Rachel Hunt |
Mark H. Robinson |
Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Point University[17] | February 16–23, 2024 | 321 (LV) | ± 6.0% | 14% | 61% | 24% | – |
| Public Policy Polling (D)[28] | December 15–16, 2023 | 556 (LV) | ± 4.2% | 5% | 23% | 6% | 66% |
Results
Hunt
- 80–90%
- 70–80%
- 60–70%
- 50–60%
- 40–50%
Clark
- 60–70%
- 50–60%
- 40–50%
- 30–40%
Robinson
- 50–60%
- 40–50%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Rachel Hunt | 477,196 | 70.35% | |
| Democratic | Ben Clark | 111,836 | 16.49% | |
| Democratic | Mark H. Robinson | 89,247 | 13.16% | |
| Total votes | 678,279 | 100.0% | ||
Libertarian Party
Constitution Party
Nominee
- Wayne Jones, central regional director for the North Carolina Constitution Party[30]
General election
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[31] | Tossup | November 1, 2024 |
Polling
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Hal Weatherman (R) |
Rachel Hunt (D) |
Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ActiVote[32] | October 8–26, 2024 | 400 (LV) | ± 4.9% | 50% | 50% | – | – |
| Cygnal (R)[33][B] | October 12–14, 2024 | 600 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 41% | 43% | 3%[e] | 13% |
| ActiVote[34] | August 20 – September 22, 2024 | 400 (LV) | ± 4.9% | 50% | 50% | – | – |
| Cygnal (R)[35][B] | September 15–16, 2024 | 600 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 40% | 42% | 3%[f] | 15% |
| YouGov (D)[36][C] | August 5–9, 2024 | 802 (RV) | ± 3.9% | 38% | 40% | – | 22% |
| Cygnal (R)[37][B] | August 4–5, 2024 | 600 (LV) | ± 3.99% | 38% | 36% | 5%[g] | 22% |
| Spry Strategies[38] | June 7–11, 2024 | 600 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 38% | 38% | – | 24% |
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Rachel Hunt | 2,768,539 | 49.53% | +1.16% | |
| Republican | Hal Weatherman | 2,663,183 | 47.64% | –3.99% | |
| Libertarian | Shannon Bray | 104,192 | 1.86% | N/A | |
| Constitution | Wayne Jones | 53,938 | 0.96% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 5,589,852 | 100.0% | |||
| Democratic gain from Republican | |||||
By congressional district
Despite losing the state, Weatherman won ten of 14 congressional districts.[40]
| District | Weatherman | Hunt | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 48% | 50% | Don Davis |
| 2nd | 30% | 67% | Deborah Ross |
| 3rd | 56% | 41% | Greg Murphy |
| 4th | 25% | 73% | Valerie Foushee |
| 5th | 55% | 42% | Virginia Foxx |
| 6th | 54% | 43% | Addison McDowell |
| 7th | 52% | 45% | David Rouzer |
| 8th | 56% | 42% | Mark Harris |
| 9th | 54% | 43% | Richard Hudson |
| 10th | 55% | 42% | Pat Harrigan |
| 11th | 51% | 46% | Chuck Edwards |
| 12th | 24% | 73% | Alma Adams |
| 13th | 54% | 43% | Brad Knott |
| 14th | 53% | 44% | Tim Moore |
Notes
- Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear - Peter Boykin with 7%; Allen Mashburn, Marlenis Hernandez Navoa, and Ernest Reeves with 4%; Rivera Douthit with 2%
- Marlenis Hernandez Navoa with 5%; Peter Boykin, Allen Mashburn, and Ernest Reeves with 3%; Rivera Douthit with 1%
- Peter Boykin and Allen Mashburn with 1%; Rivera Douthit with 0%
- Bray (L) with 2%; Jones (C) with 1%
- Bray (L) with 2%; Jones (C) with 1%
- Bray (L) with 5%
Partisan clients
- Poll sponsored by the John Locke Foundation
- Poll sponsored by the Carolina Journal
- Poll sponsored by Carolina Forward