RALEIGH, N.C. — Super Tuesday kicks off this week! Many of you may already know that North Carolina tends to be a key battleground state.
We gathered some commonly asked questions about the history of voting during the primaries for the presidential election in our state to help our viewers understand how we got here.
Did North Carolina vote blue or red in 2020?
In 2020, President Joe Biden (D) had 572,271 (42%) votes compared to the next-closest challenger Bernie Sanders’ (D) 322,000 (24%) during the primary.
That year, President Biden had a total of 2,684,292 votes for president while former president Donald Trump (R) had 2,758,775 for the presidential thus Trump winning by less than 2%, during the general election.
That same year, Roy Cooper (D) had 2,834,790 votes for governor while Dan Forest (R) had 2,586,605 votes.
Democrats liked Cooper for governor but were lukewarm on Biden for president. Republicans, conversely, liked Trump for president but were lukewarm on Forest for governor.
What about the 2016 primary election?
Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary with 54.5% of the vote while Trump won the Republican primary, taking 40.2% of the vote. However, Trump won the 2016 general election.
How often has North Carolina been a blue state in the primary presidential election?
Since 1900, 18 Democrats have won the state's vote. From 1900 to 1964, Democrats dominated the presidential primary election — except in 1928.
How often has North Carolina been a red state in the primary presidential election?
Thirteen Republicans have won North Carolina since 1900. In 2008, the Democrats won the presidential primary election — making it the first time since 1980.
Over the past 50 years, North Carolinians have voted for 12 Republicans and three Democrats for president, while also voting for four Republicans and 11 Democrats for governor during the general election, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
In eight out of 15 presidential elections, voters chose a president and governor of different parties.
All primaries wrap up on June 4.
The Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago from Aug. 19-22. The Republican National Convention will be held in Wisconsin from July 15-18.
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