2004 North Carolina gubernatorial election
 | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results Easley: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Elections in North Carolina |
|---|
 |
The 2004 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2004. The general election was between the Democratic incumbent Mike Easley and the Republican nominee Patrick J. Ballantine. Easley won by 56% to 43%, winning his second term as governor.
Primaries[]
Democratic[]
Mike Easley was first elected as governor in 2000 and opted to run for a second term. He faced opposition in the Democratic primary from Rickey Kipfer, a former corporate manager from Lee County. Kipfer campaigned on a platform of abolishing North Carolina's personal income tax and exploring potential natural gas resources in the state. He envisioned the state replacing income tax revenue with revenue from natural gas exploration. Kipfer also proposed a system similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund as a means of distributing potential natural gas revenues to citizens in North Carolina.[1][2]
Easley's campaign manager stated that they did not consider Kipfer as serious competition.[1] Easley did not campaign against Kipfer.
Mike Easley won the primary comfortably with over 85% of the vote.[2]
Candidates[]
Declared[]
- Mike Easley, incumbent governor
- Rickey Kipfer, businessman[1]
Results[]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mike Easley (incumbent) | 379,498 | 85.37 | |
| Democratic | Rickey Kipfer | 65,061 | 14.63 | |
| Turnout | 444,559 | 100 | ||
Republican[]
Candidates[]
Declared[]
- Patrick J. Ballantine, Minority Leader of the North Carolina Senate (1999-2004)[4]
- Dan Barett, attorney and Davie County Commissioner[5]
- Bill Cobey, Chair of the North Carolina Republican Party (1999-2003) and U.S. Representative from NC-04 (1985-1987)
- George Little, insurance executive[4]
- Fern Shubert, state senator (2003-2005)[4]
- Richard Vinroot, Mayor of Charlotte (1991-1995), nominee for governor in 2000 and candidate for governor in 1996[4]
Withdrawn[]
- Timothy Cook, chemist (running for lieutenant governor)[6]
Declined[]
- James Cain, former president of the Carolina Hurricanes[5]
- I. Beverly Lake Jr., Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court (2001-2006)[5]
Results[]
- Ballantine—81-90%
- Ballantine—71-80%
- Ballantine—61-70%
- Ballantine—51-60%
- Ballantine—41-50%
- Ballantine—31-40%
- Ballantine—21-30%
- Vinroot—41-50%
- Vinroot—31-40%
- Vinroot—21-30%
- Cobey—51-60%
- Cobey—41-50%
- Cobey—31-40%
- Barrett—51-60%
- Barrett—21-30%
- Shubert—31-40%
- Little—51-60%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Patrick J. Ballantine | 110,726 | 30.38 | |
| Republican | Richard Vinroot | 109,217 | 29.97 | |
| Republican | Bill Cobey | 97,461 | 26.74 | |
| Republican | Dan Barrett | 19,097 | 5.24 | |
| Republican | Fern Shubert | 14,445 | 3.96 | |
| Republican | George Little | 13,474 | 3.70 | |
| Turnout | 364,420 | 100 | ||
General election[]
Predictions[]
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[7] | Likely D | November 1, 2004 |
Polling[]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Mike Easley (D) |
Patrick Ballantine (R) |
Other / Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA | October 29–31, 2004 | 617 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 55% | 41% | 5% |
Results[]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mike Easley (incumbent) | 1,939,154 | 55.62% | +3.60% | |
| Republican | Patrick J. Ballantine | 1,495,021 | 42.88% | -3.38% | |
| Libertarian | Barbara Howe | 52,513 | 1.51% | +0.06% | |
| Turnout | 3,486,688 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
Notes[]
- ^ Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear
References[]
- ^ a b c Robertson, Gary (19 July 2004). "Republicans not Easley's only competition". Wilmington Star News. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
- ^ a b "Vinroot, Ballantine To Meet In GOP Gubernatorial Runoff". WRAL.com. 21 July 2004. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
- ^ a b c "North Carolina DataNet #46" (PDF). University of North Carolina. April 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- ^ a b c d "Ballantine may step back from position". Wilmington Star News. 17 April 2004. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
- ^ a b c "Davie lawyer, Republican, to run for governor". Wilmington Star News. 20 May 2003. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
- ^ Dyer, Eric (7 May 2004). "Fields set for N.C. elections in 2004". Greensboro News and Record.
- ^ "The Final Predictions". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
External links[]
- Official campaign websites (Archived)
- 2004 United States gubernatorial elections
- North Carolina gubernatorial elections
- 2004 North Carolina elections