North Carolina Attorney General election, 2016

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North Carolina Attorney General Election

Primary Date: March 15, 2016

General Election Date: November 8, 2016

November Election Winner: Josh Stein (D)

Incumbent Prior to Election: Roy Cooper (D)

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Key election dates

Filing deadline (partisan): December 21, 2015

Primary date: March 15, 2016

Filing deadline (independents): June 9, 2016

Filing deadline (write-ins): July 26, 2016

General election date: November 8, 2016

Inauguration: January 7, 2017

North Carolina held an open election for attorney general on November 8, 2016. Josh Stein (D) won the election, keeping the attorney general's seat in Democratic hands.

HIGHLIGHTS

Incumbent Roy Cooper (D) ran for governor in 2016, leaving the attorney general election an open race.

The winners of the March 15 primary elections—state Sen. Buck Newton (R) and former state Sen. Josh Stein (D)—competed in the November 8 general election.

A Republican has not won election to the office of attorney general in North Carolina in over 100 years.

Stein won the general election on November 8, 2016.

Overview

As the state's chief legal officer, the attorney general provides legal representation and advice to all state government departments, agencies and commissions, writes legal opinions and litigates in criminal appeals cases. North Carolina has been under Republican trifecta control since Governor Pat McCrory (R) assumed office in 2013. A Republican had not won election to the office of attorney general in North Carolina in over 100 years.

Four-term incumbent Roy Cooper (D) did not run for re-election, having chosen instead to challenge incumbent Pat McCrory (R) in the 2016 gubernatorial race. State Sen. Buck Newton defeated Jim O'Neill in the March 15 Republican primary election. Former state Sen. Josh Stein, who resigned from his senate seat to pursue the attorney general's office, defeated Marcus W. Williams in the Democratic primary election. Newton and Stein competed for the seat in the November 8 general election. Stein had a significant fundraising lead over Newton as of pre-primary campaign finance reports.

Despite the open race, the Republican legislature's low approval rates and Democrats' dominance in this office made it an extremely difficult seat to flip in 2016. Stein won the general election on November 8, 2016.

Candidates

General election candidates

Josh Stein (D)
State senator, 2009-2016

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Buck Newton (R)
State senator since 2011

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Click [show] to view candidates who were defeated in the primary elections.
Marcus W. Williams (D) - 2014 state senate candidate, 2012 U.S. House candidate Jim O'Neill (R) - district attorney, Forsyth County

Results

General election

Josh Stein defeated Buck Newton in the North Carolina attorney general election.

North Carolina Attorney General, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Josh Stein	50.22%	2,276,410
	Republican	Buck Newton	49.78%	2,256,178
Total Votes				4,532,588
Source: ABC11

Primary election results

North Carolina Attorney General Democratic Primary, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Josh Stein	53.4%	510,003
Marcus W. Williams	46.6%	445,524
Total Votes		955,527
Election results via North Carolina State Board of Elections.

North Carolina Attorney General Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Buck Newton	54.9%	503,880
Jim O'Neill	45.1%	414,073
Total Votes		917,953
Election results via North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Context of the 2016 election

Incumbent Roy Cooper (D)

Though eligible, incumbent Attorney General Roy Cooper declined to seek re-election, choosing instead to run for the governorship. Cooper was first elected in 2000 after easily defeating Republican Dan Boyce. He went on to also easily defeat Republican challengers Joe Knott and Bob Crumbly in 2004 and 2008, respectively. He ran unopposed in 2012.

Prior to his tenure as attorney general, Cooper had served ten years in the State Senate and four years in the North Carolina House.

Party control in North Carolina

See also: Party control of North Carolina state government

North Carolina had been under Republican trifecta control since Governor Pat McCrory (R) assumed office in 2013. This represented a fairly rapid shift in partisan control for the state, which had been under Democratic trifecta control as recently as 2010. North Carolina's electoral votes went to the Republican presidential candidate in every election cycle since 1980, with the exception of 2008 when the state voted to elect Barack Obama (D). North Carolina began attracting significant attention as a presidential battleground state with Obama's unexpected 2008 win in the state—the first Democratic candidate to do so since Jimmy Carter (D) in 1976. For the past two presidential elections, the state's presidential preference influenced statewide elections. This influence, coupled with the recent trend of close elections in the state, promised competitive races in 2016.

Both Republican and Democratic candidates gained success in recent elections. Democrat Bev Perdue won the gubernatorial election and Democrat Kay Hagan defeated incumbent Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole in 2008. The state swung back to Republicans in 2012 when Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney narrowly beat President Obama by a margin of 2 percentage points. McCrory defeated his Democratic rival by a small margin of victory that same year. The trend of close statewide elections in North Carolina continued into 2014: Republican Thom Tillis narrowly defeated incumbent Senator Kay Hagan (D) in a statewide race that year, earning 48.8 percent of the vote to Hagan's 47.3 percent.

A Republican has not held the attorney general seat in North Carolina since James H. Carson, Jr. Carson was appointed in 1974 to fill a vacancy left by Democrat Robert Burren Morgan, who resigned after winning election to the U.S. Senate. In fact, a Republican had not won election to this office in over 100 years. Carson ran for election to a full term in 1974 but lost to Democrat Rufus Edmiston. Despite the open race, Democrats' strong incumbency advantage in this office made it a difficult seat for Republicans to flip in 2016.

Race background

Candidate field

The 2016 race for North Carolina attorney general was open due to incumbent Roy Cooper's decision to run for governor. Cooper, a Democrat first elected to the position in 2000, has won four consecutive terms as the state's chief legal official. In his most recent bid for re-election, in 2012, Cooper ran unopposed in both the primary and general election. The popular long-time attorney general was critical of Republican Gov. Pat McCrory since McCrory succeeded Democrat Beverly Perdue in 2012.

Cooper began laying the groundwork for a campaign against McCrory in late 2013. In May 2015, he confirmed that he would run for governor instead of seeking a fifth term as attorney general. He called the upcoming gubernatorial race "a battle for the heart and soul of North Carolina. That's when we take the state back from the extremists."

Prior to the November 2016 general elections, North Carolina was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas.

See also: North Carolina State Legislature, North Carolina House of Representatives, North Carolina State Senate

With Cooper out of the picture, North Carolina Senators Buck Newton (R) and Josh Stein (D), who won their parties' primary elections on March 15, competed for the attorney general seat on November 8. Stein resigned his senate seat on March 21, 2016, in order to focus on his campaign. Stein won the general election on November 8, 2016.

Primary candidates

Democrats

Former state Sen. Josh Stein (D) defeated Robeson County attorney Marcus W. Williams (D) in the Democratic primary. Stein resigned from his senate seat on March 21, 2016, in order to focus on his campaign for attorney general.

Stein was elected to the senate in 2008 and had pointed out his history of being an advocate for consumer protection laws during his four terms as a state senator as qualification for the attorney general seat. According to his campaign website, his priorities were public safety, consumer protection and the environment. Stein also served as a deputy attorney general prior to his election to the state senate.

Williams was previously a 2014 Democratic candidate for District 13 of the North Carolina State Senate and a 2012 Democratic candidate for the 8th Congressional District of North Carolina. He lost both elections, but used his campaign to bring attention to issues affecting black voters. If elected, Williams promised stricter enforcement of environmental protection laws and greater police accountability.

Republicans

State Senator Buck Newton (R) defeated Forsyth County district attorney Jim O'Neill (R) in the Republican primary.

O'Neill had characterized his opponent as lacking experience. “I have prosecuted every case imaginable under the sun, and hands down, I’m the most battle-tested candidate in the race" he said in February 2016. O'Neill and Newton butted heads in 2014 over legislation backed by Newton that moved the State Bureau of Investigation into the Department of Public Safety. The bureau had previously been under the purview of the attorney general, where O'Neill said it belongs.

"It's a very important agency...and it's very important we remove politics from it," Newton responded on the matter. He also pointed to his experience as a legislator and attorney as preparation for the duties of the attorney general, which, he said, do not include prosecution. Newton is a private practice lawyer and was elected to the state senate in 2010.

Campaigns

Campaign finance

General election candidates

Josh Stein Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
2015 Year End Semi-Annual	January 26, 2016	$1,114,063.72	$503,467.18	$(129,113.55)	$1,488,417.35
2016 First Quarter	March 7, 2016	$1,488,417.35	$157,292.12	$(154,404.18)	$1,419,305.29
2016 Second Quarter	06/30/2016	$1,419,305.29	$1,178,648.34	$(542,345.30)	$2,127,608.33
2016 Third Quarter	10/22/2016	$2,127,608.33	$1,898,269.31	$(3,050,158.73)	$975,718.91
			Running totals
			$3,737,676.95	$(3,876,021.76)

Buck Newton Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
2015 Year End Semi-Annual	January 29, 2016	$212,526.7	$152,528.8	$(197,829.47)	$167,226.13
2016 First Quarter	March 7, 2016	$167,226.13	$73,907.3	$(193,037.57)	$48,095.86
2016 Second Quarter	06/30/2016	$55,926.56	$303,396.62	$(130,221.48)	$229,101.70
2016 Third Quarter	10/22/2016	$229,101.70	$379,714.58	$(294,705.37)	$258,618.33
			Running totals
			$909,547.3	$(815,793.89)

Primary candidates

Marcus W. Williams Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
2016 First Quarter		$0	$2,781.09	$(2,781.09)	$0
			Running totals
			$2,781.09	$(2,781.09)

Jim O'Neill Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
2015 Year End Semi-Annual	January 29, 2016	$93,940.61	$187,077.51	$(51,378.93)	$229,639.19
2016 First Quarter	March 7, 2016	$229,639.19	$82,487	$(259,874.03)	$52,252.16
			Running totals
			$269,564.51	$(311,252.96)

Polls

The candidates for attorney general are Republican Buck Newton and Democrat Josh Stein. If the election was today, who would you vote for?
Poll	Buck Newton (R)	Josh Stein (D)	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Public Policy Polling March 18, 2016-March 20, 2016	37%	38%	24%	+/-3.4%	843
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected].

Do you approve or disapprove of the job the General Assembly is doing?
Poll	Approve	Disapprove	Not sure	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Public Policy Polling March 18, 2016-March 20, 2016	18%	52%	30%	+/-3.4%	843
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted on this issue. Those displayed are a sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected].

Satellite spending

Main article: Political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns

Groups unaffiliated with candidates or campaigns—such as political action committees, super PACs, nonprofit public welfare organizations, and labor unions—often spend money to influence the outcome of an election. This satellite spending can take the form of express advocacy, which encourages votes for or against a candidate, or issue advocacy, which supports broad political or social issues. Some groups are restricted on which kind of advocacy they can engage in based on their tax status.

Disclosure regulations vary from state to state and vary based on type of organization, complicating the process of determining a comprehensive picture of all spending in a given election.

For example, nonprofits are not always required to disclose their donors to the government; they submit financial information to the federal government through regular tax filings with the Internal Revenue Service, which are only publicly available through a Freedom of Information Act request. Other organizations are required to report election expenditures to a state elections division.

North Carolina Attorney General, 2016
Organization	Amount spent	Type of spending
Republican Attorneys General Association	$3,800,000	Ads supporting Buck Newton (R)
Total known expenditures:	$3,800,000
Note: All figures are estimates. Know of any other instances of satellite spending? Tell us!

Campaign media

Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any? Tell us!

Democrats

Josh Stein (D)
Marcus W. Williams (D)

Republicans

Buck Newton (R)
Jim O'Neill (R)

Endorsements

Republican candidates

Below were key endorsements for Newton and O'Neill.

About the office

The attorney general of North Carolina is an elected constitutional office in the executive branch of the North Carolina state government. As the state's chief legal officer, the attorney general provides legal representation and advice to all state government departments, agencies and commissions, writes legal opinions and litigates in criminal appeals cases. The attorney general is elected in presidential election years and has no term limit.

Helpful Facts About U.S. State Attorneys General

Attorneys general are directly elected in 43 states. The remaining seven are appointed by the governor, the state legislature, or the state supreme court. Heading into the 2016 round of elections, there were 22 Democratic, 27 Republican, and one nonpartisan attorneys general. Ten states were scheduled to hold attorney general elections in 2016. In 2014 the annual salaries for state attorneys general ranged from $72,408 (Arkansas) to $176,988 (Tennessee). The office of attorney general exists in all 50 states; for 19 of them, the attorney general is not required to be licensed to practice law or even hold a law degree.

Incumbent

The incumbent was Democrat Roy Cooper. Cooper was first elected attorney general in 2000 and won re-election three times—in 2004, 2008, and 2012.

Authority

The North Carolina Constitution establishes the office of attorney general in Article III, Section 7:

(1) Officers. A Secretary of State, an Auditor, a Treasurer, a Superintendent of Public Instruction, an Attorney General, a Commissioner of Agriculture, a Commissioner of Labor, and a Commissioner of Insurance shall be elected by the qualified voters of the State in 1972 and every four years thereafter, at the same time and places as members of the General Assembly are elected. Their term of office shall be four years and shall commence on the first day of January next after their election and continue until their successors are elected and qualified. ...

Powers of the office

The attorney general, in addition to serving as the state's chief legal advisor, heads the North Carolina Department of Justice. The duties and responsibilities of office are dictated by the state constitution and state statutes:

• represent the state and its officials, departments, agencies and commissions in all civil matters
• provide legal opinions, when requested by the general assembly, governor or other state official
• assist judges, district attorneys, magistrates and municipal and county attorneys
• handle criminal appeals from state trial courts

Qualifications

Article III, Section 7 also outlines the qualifications for the attorney general:

... (7) Special Qualifications for Attorney General. Only persons duly authorized to practice law in the courts of this State shall be eligible for appointment or election as Attorney General.

• A candidate for attorney general must be authorized to practice law in North Carolina.

Past elections

2012

Attorney General of North Carolina General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Roy Cooper Incumbent	100%	2,828,941
Total Votes				2,828,941
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

To view the full electoral history for Attorney General of North Carolina, click [show] to expand the full section.

2008 On November 4, 2008, Roy Cooper won re-election to the office of North Carolina Attorney General. He defeated Bob Crumley (R) in the general election. North Carolina Attorney General, 2008 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Roy Cooper Incumbent 61.1% 2,538,178      Republican Bob Crumley 38.9% 1,615,762 Total Votes 4,153,940 Election results via North Carolina State Board of Elections. 2004 On November 2, 2004, Roy Cooper won re-election to the office of North Carolina Attorney General. He defeated Joe Knott (R) in the general election. North Carolina Attorney General, 2004 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Roy Cooper Incumbent 55.6% 1,872,097      Republican Joe Knott 44.4% 1,494,121 Total Votes 3,366,218 Election results via North Carolina State Board of Elections. 2000 On November 7, 2000, Roy Cooper won election to the office of North Carolina Attorney General. He defeated Dan Boyce (R) and Margaret Palms (Reform) in the general election. North Carolina Attorney General, 2000 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Roy Cooper 51.2% 1,446,793      Republican Dan Boyce 46.4% 1,310,845      Reform Margaret Palms 2.4% 67,536 Total Votes 2,825,174 Election results via North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms North Carolina attorney general election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

North Carolina Attorney General election, 2016 - Google News

State profile

Demographic data for North Carolina
	North Carolina	U.S.
Total population:	10,035,186	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	48,618	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	69.5%	73.6%
Black/African American:	21.5%	12.6%
Asian:	2.5%	5.1%
Native American:	1.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.4%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	8.8%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	85.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	28.4%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$46,868	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	20.5%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in North Carolina. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in North Carolina

North Carolina voted Republican in six out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, six are located in North Carolina, accounting for 2.91 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. North Carolina had six Retained Pivot Counties, 3.31 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More North Carolina coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in North Carolina
• United States congressional delegations from North Carolina
• Public policy in North Carolina
• Endorsers in North Carolina
• North Carolina fact checks
• More...

See also

North Carolina government:

• North Carolina state executive offices
• North Carolina State Legislature
• North Carolina courts

Previous elections:

• State executive official elections, 2015
• State executive official elections, 2014

Ballotpedia exclusives:

• State executives compensation
• State of the state addresses
• Who runs the states?

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the North Carolina Attorney General
• 2016 NC state executive offices election fact sheet