2000 North Carolina gubernatorial election

The 2000 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on 7 November 2000. The general election was fought between the Republican nominee, former mayor of Charlotte Richard Vinroot and the Democrat nominee, state Attorney General Mike Easley. Easley won by 52% to 46%, and succeeded fellow Democrat Jim Hunt as governor.

2000 North Carolina gubernatorial election

November 7, 2000

Nominee Mike Easley Richard Vinroot Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,530,324 1,360,960 Percentage 52.02% 46.26%

County Results Easley:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Vinroot:      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election Jim Hunt Democratic Elected Governor Mike Easley Democratic

Primaries

Candidates

• Bob Ayers
• Mike Easley, Attorney General
• Ken Rogers
• Dennis Wicker, Lieutenant Governor

Results

Primary results by county:

Easley

•   Easley—81-90%
•   Easley—71-80%
•   Easley—61-70%
•   Easley—51-60%
•   Easley—41-50%

Wicker

•   Wicker—71-80%
•   Wicker—51-60%
•   Wicker—41-50%

2000 North Carolina gubernatorial Democratic primary election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mike Easley	330,764	58.86
	Democratic	Dennis A. Wicker	203,723	36.25
	Democratic	Bob Ayers	9,224	1.64
	Democratic	Ken Rogers	7,998	1.42
Turnout			561,940	100

Candidates

• N. Leo Daughtry, state representative
• Art Manning, candidate for Governor in 1996
• Charles Neely, attorney and former state representative[2]
• Richard Vinroot, former Mayor of Charlotte and candidate for Governor in 1996

Results

Primary results by county:

Vinroot

•   Vinroot—71-80%
•   Vinroot—61-70%
•   Vinroot—51-60%
•   Vinroot—41-50%
•   Vinroot—31-40%

Daughtry

•   Daughtry—81-90%
•   Daughtry—71-80%
•   Daughtry—61-70%
•   Daughtry—51-60%
•   Daughtry—41-50%
•   Daughtry—31-40%

Neely

•   Neely—31-40%

  Tie between Daughtry and Neely—31-40%

2000 North Carolina gubernatorial Republican primary election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Richard Vinroot	142,820	45.48
	Republican	N. Leo Daughtry	116,115	36.97
	Republican	Charles Neely	48,101	15.32
	Republican	Art Manning	7,019	2.23
Turnout			314,055	100

General election

Debates

• Complete video of debate, September 13, 2000
• Complete video of debate, October 27, 2000

Results

2000 North Carolina gubernatorial election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mike Easley	1,530,324	52.02%	-3.96
	Republican	Richard Vinroot	1,360,960	46.26%	+3.51
	Libertarian	Barbara Howe	42,674	1.45%	+0.77
	Reform	Douglas Schell	8,104	0.28%	N/A
Turnout			2,942,062
	Democratic hold		Swing

Footnotes

1. "North Carolina DataNet #46" (PDF). University of North Carolina. April 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
2. Saulsby, Pam (27 April 2000). "Neely Enjoys Gubernatorial Campaign Run on Message Not Money :". WRAL.com. Retrieved 17 January 2021.