NC Republicans may have two statewide runoff elections. Meet the candidates

Two statewide races in the North Carolina primary may be heading to a runoff election.

State law requires a candidate in the primary election to receive more than 30% of the vote to win outright. If they don’t reach that threshold, then the second-place finisher can request a second primary. So far, of two Council of State races that meet that criteria, one is set for a runoff election on May 14.

That’s the same day voters will likely decide runoffs in two congressional races.

Potential GOP primary runoff for lieutenant governor

In the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, candidate Hal Weatherman received below the 30% threshold to win outright, with 19.61% of the vote.

The second place vote-getter, according to those same unofficial election results, is Jim O’Neill, with 15.85%.

O’Neill didn’t respond to The News & Observer’s requests for comment on Tuesday night or on Wednesday about a possible recount. It won’t happen unless he makes the request. The third-place candidate is very close behind O’Neill — former state Sen. Deanna Ballard, with 14.96%.

But the third place vote-getter doesn’t get to request a recount, State Board of Elections spokesperson Pat Gannon told The N&O on Wednesday. And the threshold for a recount for statewide races is 0.5%, anyway.

North Carolina also has discretionary recounts, but Gannon said those are intended to be used by county boards of elections, and possibly by the State Board, if a board “is unable to confidently ascertain the vote totals to be able to certify the election during canvass. It’s discretionary, meaning that it is up to the judgment of the relevant board to determine when it would need to do such a recount to complete its canvass.”

Gannon said the Board of Elections is not aware of the procedure being used by a board to double-check the count between second and third place candidates.

Here’s more about the candidates in a potential runoff.

▪ Hal Weatherman

This would be the first elected office for Weatherman, 54, who previously served as chief of staff for former Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and former U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick. He told The N&O that he has “over 30 years of on-the-job training and experience.”

Lieutenant governors sit on several boards, including the State Board of Education.

Asked in an N&O candidate questionnaire about what he would do to support public schools, Weatherman said:

“School choice for parents. Go back to basics (reading, writing, math, etc.) and get rid of all the ideologies (like CRT, DEI, SEL). Also, teach American Exceptionalism and the founding principles of America. Armed guards in every school to protect our kids. Free teachers from teaching to the test,” Weatherman said.

On whether he disagrees with other Republicans on any issues, Weatherman said in the questionnaire that he “disagreed with members of my party who wished to expand Medicaid, legalize gambling and legalize marijuana.”

In the past legislative session, Republicans joined Democrats in passing Medicaid expansion and legalizing sports gambling statewide. A medical marijuana bill failed to pass the House, but did pass the Senate.

North Carolina’s lieutenant governor also serves as president of the Senate, with duties to preside over sessions. However they only vote to break a tie. The Senate is currently controlled by a Republican supermajority.

▪ Jim O’Neill

O’Neill, the longtime district attorney for Forsyth County, has been in that office since 2009. He lost a close race for attorney general in 2020 to Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, who is now his party’s nominee in the governor’s race. O’Neill received his law degree from New York Law School and previously served as an assistant district attorney.

On his campaign website, O’Neill promises to be “tough on crime” if he is elected lieutenant governor, wants law enforcement to protect private schools like they do as school resource officers for public schools, and wants to “combat the ills of mental illness and its impact on the safety of our streets and our communities.”

If the Republican primary indeed goes to a runoff, the winner will face Democratic primary winner Rachel Hunt, a current state senator who has made education a focus of her campaign. Hunt also previously served in the state House. Her father is former Gov. Jim Hunt.

GOP runoff candidates for State Auditor

The Republican primary for state auditor will go to a second primary.

Jack Clark was the top finisher in that race, with 23.24% of the vote, according to unofficial results. He was followed in second place by Dave Boliek, who received 22.12% of the vote.

Boliek confirmed to The N&O on Wednesday morning that he will request a runoff.

The winner will face current State Auditor Jessica Holmes, a Democrat appointed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to finish out the term of former Auditor Beth Wood, who resigned after a scandal in which she admitted to a hit-and-run wreck in downtown Raleigh in her state vehicle and then was investigated over her vehicle use for non-work trips. Holmes is former chair of the Wake County Board of Commissioners and unsuccessfully ran for labor commissioner in 2020.

Here’s more about those Republican second primary candidates.

▪ Jack Clark

Clark, 32, is a certified public account who has worked as a research assistant at the General Assembly since early 2023. This would be his first time in public office. At the legislature, he worked in budget policy for a House Republican. He has also been an internal and external auditor in the private sector.

Clark was asked in his N&O candidate questionnaire where he sees state government wasting taxpayer money.

“Everywhere. People and private companies waste money as well in all sorts of ways. I will not make campaign promises to go after specific areas. I will run the numbers and see what areas have the most money with the least oversight and the lightest audits. An auditor must keep an open mind when starting an audit engagement,” Clark said.

▪ Dave Boliek

Boliek, 56, serves on the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, which is the 15-member governing board for the flagship campus.

Asked the same question as Clark about wasting taxpayer money, Boliek said there are “too many administrators in our public schools, universities and state agencies. There are also many places where services and management are redundant and can be consolidated. We also need to assess how we use and administer technology across state government.”

What’s next

North Carolina’s runoff election will be held on May 14. The Board of Elections will post second-primary information here: ncsbe.gov/voting/upcoming-election.

Reporters Korie Dean and Avi Bajpai contributed to this story.