2020 North Carolina gubernatorial election

2020 North Carolina gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →
Turnout75.35% Increase 6.37pp
 
Nominee Roy Cooper Dan Forest
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 2,834,790 2,586,605
Percentage 51.52% 47.01%

Cooper:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Forest:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Tie:      40–50%

Governor before election

Roy Cooper
Democratic

Elected Governor

Roy Cooper
Democratic

The 2020 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the governor of North Carolina, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to one-third of the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Democratic incumbent Roy Cooper was re-elected to a second term, defeating Republican lieutenant governor Dan Forest. Cooper became the first North Carolina governor to win re-election since Mike Easley in 2004. He also outperformed other Democrats on the ballot and was the only Democrat to win a gubernatorial race in a state carried by Donald Trump in 2020. With a margin of 4.51%, this election was the second closest of the 2020 gubernatorial election cycle after Puerto Rico and the closest in a U.S. state.