2012 North Carolina gubernatorial election

The 2012 North Carolina gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 United States presidential election, U.S. House election, statewide judicial election, Council of State election and various local elections.

The incumbent Democratic governor, Bev Perdue, was eligible to run for reelection, but announced on January 26, 2012, that she would not seek a second term. Incumbent lieutenant governor Walter H. Dalton won the Democratic nomination, while former mayor of Charlotte and 2008 gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrory won the Republican nomination. McCrory won the election with almost 55 percent of the vote to Dalton's 43 percent, the largest margin of victory for a Republican in a race for governor in history, surpassing the previous record set in 1868.

Libertarian nominee Barbara Howe took 2% of the vote. When he was inaugurated as the 74th governor of North Carolina in January 2013, the Republicans held complete control of state government for the first time since 1871. As of , this is the last time a Republican was elected Governor of North Carolina, and the only time since 1988. It was also the last time the state concurrently voted for a gubernatorial and presidential candidate of the same party, and the last time a Republican candidate won Mecklenburg County in a statewide election. Provided by Wikipedia