The 2024 North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction election was held on November 5, 2024, to elect the North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction, concurrently with elections for U.S. House of Representatives, governor, Council of State, and other state and local elections.

Primary elections took place on March 5, 2024. Incumbent Republican Superintendent Catherine Truitt ran for re-election to a second term in office,[1] but was eliminated in the Republican primary. Democratic nominee Mo Green won the general election over Republican nominee Michele Morrow.

Background

The North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction is one of the ten members of the North Carolina Council of State.[2] All members of the council of state are elected for four-year terms statewide.[2] The 2024 North Carolina elections were held on November 5, 2024, with primaries held on March 5, and primary runoffs, if necessary, on May 14.[3]

Incumbent Republican Catherine Truitt, a teacher and former advisor on education to governor Pat McCrory, had first been elected as Superintendent in 2020, defeating Democratic nominee Jen Mangrum.[4][5]

Republican primary

Catherine Truitt, the incumbent superintendent elected in 2020, was challenged by Michele Morrow, a homeschool parent and property manager who ran unsuccessfully for Wake County Board of Education in 2022. Truitt, a former education advisor to governor Pat McCrory,[6] had a nine-to-one fundraising lead.[7] Truitt also had the support of high-ranking politicians in the state like U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx, and state senator Phil Berger.[6] Truitt was criticized by Morrow for recommending delayed implementation of a "Parents' Bill of Rights" law.[7] Morrow portrayed Truitt as a liberal and herself as the "only conservative" in the race. Morrow was present at the January 6 United States Capitol attack but did not enter the Capitol building.[6]

Nominee

Eliminated in Primary

Results

Results by county
  Morrow
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Truitt
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
Republican primary results[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michele Morrow 457,151 52.10%
Republican Catherine Truitt (incumbent) 420,270 47.90%
Total votes 877,421 100.0%

Democratic primary

Nominee

Eliminated in Primary

  • Kenon Crumble, high school assistant principal[1]
  • Katie Eddings, personal finance college teacher[10]

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[a]		 Margin
of error		 Kenon
Crumble		 Katie
Eddings		 Mo
Green		 Undecided
Public Policy Polling (D)[11] December 15–16, 2023 556 (LV) ± 4.2% 7% 5% 11% 77%

Results

Results by county
  Green
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  Eddings
  •   40–50%
  Crumble
  •   40–50%
Democratic primary results[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mo Green 431,922 65.84%
Democratic Katie Eddings 163,234 24.88%
Democratic Kenon Crumble 60,844 9.27%
Total votes 656,000 100.0%

Campaign

The race gained attention due to Morrow's history of controversial statements, such as calling for the execution of Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.[12][13] She had also referred to public schools as "indoctrination centers" and attended protests outside of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.[14] President Obama made comments about the race during a rally for Kamala Harris in Charlotte, saying he was "self-interested" because Morrow "thinks I should face a firing squad." Obama endorsed Green, whom he said has "actually run one of the largest school systems in the state and will make sure your kids get the education they deserve."[15]

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[a]		 Margin
of error		 Michele
Morrow (R)		 Mo
Green (D)		 Undecided
SurveyUSA[16][A] October 23–26, 2024 853 (LV) ± 4.1% 42% 41% 17%
ActiVote[17] October 8–26, 2024 400 (LV) ± 4.9% 49% 51% –
Cygnal (R)[18][B] October 12–14, 2024 600 (LV) ± 3.99% 43% 46% 11%
ActiVote[17] August 20 – September 22, 2024 400 (LV) ± 4.9% 49% 51% –
Cygnal (R)[19][B] September 15–16, 2024 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 39% 43% 18%
SurveyUSA[16][A] September 4–7, 2024 676 (LV) ± 4.9% 38% 40% 22%
YouGov (D)[20][C] August 5–9, 2024 802 (RV) ± 3.9% 39% 42% 19%
Cygnal (R)[21][B] August 4–5, 2024 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 42% 37% 21%
Change Research (D)[22][C] May 13–18, 2024 835 (LV) ± 3.8% 40% 41% 19%
SurveyUSA[23][A] March 6–9, 2024 736 (RV) ± 4.9% 41% 40% 19%
Cygnal (R)[24][D][D] March 6–7, 2024 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 41% 39% 20%
  1. 1 2 Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  1. 1 2 3 Poll conducted in partnership with WRAL-TV
  2. 1 2 3 Poll sponsored by the Carolina Journal
  3. 1 2 Poll sponsored by Carolina Forward
  4. 1 2 Poll sponsored by the John Locke Foundation

Results

2024 North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction election[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Mo Green 2,837,606 51.18% +2.56%
Republican Michele Morrow 2,706,953 48.82% –2.56%
Total votes 5,544,559 100.0%
Democratic gain from Republican

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "2024 Primary Candidate List By Contest – Federal and State Only (PDF)". North Carolina State Board of Elections. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Article III". North Carolina Constitution. State of North Carolina. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  3. ↑ "North Carolina elections, 2024". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  4. ↑ "November 03, 2020 General Election Results by Contest" (PDF). North Carolina State Board of Elections. November 24, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  5. ↑ "2020 North Carolina Council of State Candidate Summary" (PDF). Retired Government Employees Association. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 Hui, T. Keung (March 7, 2024). "MAGA supporter who home-schools her kids tops NC superintendent Truitt in GOP primary". The News & Observer. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  7. 1 2 Walkenhorst, Emily (March 6, 2024). "How conservative activist Michele Morrow pulled off a major upset in her quest to run NC public schools". WRAL News. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  8. 1 2 "03/05/2024 OFFICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS – STATEWIDE". North Carolina State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  9. ↑ "2024 North Carolina Council of State races: A complete list of candidates". WUNC. 2023-10-31. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  10. ↑ "Lee teacher announces bid for state superintendent". The Rant. 2023-06-30. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  11. ↑ Public Policy Polling (D)
  12. ↑ Kaczynski, Andrew; Steck, Em (15 March 2024). "GOP nominee to run North Carolina public schools called for violence against Democrats, including executing Obama and Biden". CNN. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  13. ↑ Nittle, Nadra (5 November 2024). "She made a 'joke' about Obama's execution. Now she's running to lead North Carolina schools — and could win". The 19th. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  14. ↑ Schlemmer, Liz (November 6, 2024). "Democrat Mo Green wins state superintendent election". WUNC News. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  15. ↑ Hagel, Jack; Walkenhorst, Emily (October 25, 2024). "'So much crazy': Why Obama says he's 'self-interested' in NC superintendent race". WRAL News. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  16. 1 2 SurveyUSA
  17. 1 2 ActiVote
  18. ↑ Cygnal (R)
  19. ↑ Cygnal (R)
  20. ↑ YouGov (D)
  21. ↑ Cygnal (R)
  22. ↑ Change Research (D)
  23. ↑ SurveyUSA
  24. ↑ Cygnal (R)
  25. ↑ "11/05/2024 OFFICIAL GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS - STATEWIDE". North Carolina State Board of Elections.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_North_Carolina_Superintendent_of_Public_Instruction_election