The 2000 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent governor Jim Hunt was constitutionally prohibited from seeking a third consecutive term in office. North Carolina attorney general Mike Easley defeated former Charlotte mayor Richard Vinroot in the open race.

Primary elections were held on May 2.[1][2] Easley defeated lieutenant governor Dennis A. Wicker to win the Democratic nomination. Vinroot, who had unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in 1996, won a plurality of the vote over state representative N. Leo Daughtry and Charles Neely.

Democratic primary

Candidates

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 Democratic gubernatorial primary[3]
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%
Total votes 561,940 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Primary results by county
Vinroot:      30-40%      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%
Daughtry:      30-40%      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%
Neely:      31-40%
Daughtry/Neely Tie:      31-40%
2000 Republican gubernatorial primary[3]
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%
Total votes 314,055 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Debates

Results

2000 North Carolina gubernatorial election[3]
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

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: THE PRIMARIES; North Carolina's Race For Governor Begins With Focus on Schools". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
  2. 1 2 Saulsby, Pam (April 27, 2000). "Neely Enjoys Gubernatorial Campaign Run on Message Not Money". WRAL.com. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "North Carolina DataNet #46" (PDF). University of North Carolina. April 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2009.


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_North_Carolina_gubernatorial_election