2012 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election

2012 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election

← 2008 November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06) 2016 →
 
Nominee Dan Forest Linda Coleman
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 2,187,728 2,180,870
Percentage 50.1% 49.9%

County results
Forest:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Coleman:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Lieutenant Governor before election

Walter Dalton
Democratic

Elected Lieutenant Governor

Dan Forest
Republican

The 2012 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the other elections to the Council of State and the gubernatorial election. Primary elections were held May 8. The offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor are elected independently. The incumbent, Lt. Gov. Walter H. Dalton, announced on Jan. 26, 2012 that he would run for Governor.[1]

In the general election, Republican Dan Forest won 50.08% of the vote, narrowly defeating Democrat Linda Coleman.[2] The election result was in doubt for almost two weeks after Election Day, and was within the margin in which Coleman could ask for a recount, but she chose not to do so on Nov. 19.[3]

When he took office in January 2013, Forest became the state's first Republican lieutenant governor since Jim Gardner left office two decades earlier.