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North Carolina's 3rd congressional district | |||||||||||||||||
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 Results by county Murphy: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Thomas: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in North Carolina |
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A special election was held on September 10, 2019, to fill the vacancy in North Carolina's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for the remainder of the 116th United States Congress. Walter B. Jones Jr., the incumbent representative, died on February 10, 2019.[1]
Parties held primaries to decide their nominees. In order to win a party nomination outright, under current state law, a candidate must exceed 30% of the vote to avoid a runoff (presuming that the second-place finisher calls for that runoff). There must be 30 days of absentee voting prior to each election, according to state law.[2] Filing began on March 4 and ended March 8, as set by Governor Roy Cooper. Twenty-six candidates filed with the State Board of Elections by the filing deadline: 17 Republicans, 6 Democrats, 2 Libertarians, and 1 Constitution Party candidate.[3] All candidates filed are affiliated with a political party.[4] Five candidates advanced after the first primary elections: two Republicans, one Democrat, one Libertarian, and one Constitution Party candidate.
Cooper set the primary date of April 30, in which the Democrats selected Allen M. Thomas, Libertarians selected Tim Harris, and in the Constitution Party primary businessman Greg Holt won by default, but no Republican achieved 30% of the vote. Voting for the Republican primary runoff occurred on Tuesday, July 9, between two candidates that are both physicians, Greg Murphy and Joan Perry.[5] Approximately 70 minutes after polls closed, Murphy was declared the winner by the Associated Press.
The general election was held on September 10, 2019. Murphy won the seat.[6][7]
With the decision by the State Board of Elections to hold a new election to redo the 2018 U.S. House election in North Carolina's 9th district, this became one of two congressional district special elections in North Carolina in 2019, the other being the 9th district's special election held on the same day. This was the first time two U.S. House special elections were held in the same state on the same day (not on Election Day) since the May 3, 2008, elections in Louisiana's 1st district and 6th district.[8]
- ^ Bolton, Alexander (February 10, 2019). "Rep. Walter Jones, GOP rebel and Iraq War critic, dies at age 76". The Hill. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
- ^ Murphy, Brian (February 11, 2019). "Gov. Cooper to set dates for a special election to replace Walter Jones in Congress". McClatchy. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
- ^ "Candidate Detail List" (PDF).
- ^ "NC State Board of Elections: Petitions in NC". Ncsbe.gov. October 17, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
- ^ "Who is winning NC 3rd District special election race? | Raleigh News & Observer". Archived from the original on May 1, 2019.
- ^ "3rd Congressional District special election filing begins next week". The Daily Standard. February 27, 2019. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
- ^ "Republican Greg Murphy wins special election in North Carolina's 3rd District". Roll Call. September 11, 2019.
- ^ Ostermeier, Eric (September 10, 2019). "Two for the price of one". Smart Politics. Archived from the original on September 15, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.