North Carolina 2nd primary polls open: Who will Republicans pick in lieutenant governor runoff?
RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) — North Carolina Republicans will look to settle the question of who will represent the GOP in the race for lieutenant governor and state auditor.
Tuesday marks Election Day for the 2024 second primary election. In total, there are three Republican races and one nonpartisan race to be decided. No other parties will have second primaries in North Carolina.
Republican races
Statewide
The Republican primary for lieutenant governor has narrowed down to Hal Weatherman and Jim O’Neill. In the first primary, Weatherman took the lead with 19.62% of the vote, and Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill lagged a short distance behind by around 34,000 votes, sitting at 15.85%. The winner will go on to face Democrat Rachel Hunt and Libertarian Dee Watson.
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The Republican primary for state auditor is down to Jack Clark and Dave Boliek. Clark led with 198,793 votes, 23.24%, to Boliek’s 189,071 votes, 22.1%. The winner will face incumbent Democrat Jessica Holmes and Libertarian Bob Drach.
Gaston County
Finally, Jim Bailey and Ronnie Worley will be on the ballot competing for the Republican nomination to represent Gaston County Board of Commissioners‘s South Point Township District.
Nonpartisan race
Orange County
The sole nonpartisan primary race yet to be decided will be for the third seat on the Orange County Schools Board of Education. Jennifer Moore and Bonnie Hauser were the top two vote-getters.
Conceded races
U.S. House District 6
North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District was heading for a second primary between former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker (R-Greensboro) and Addison McDowell, a former staffer for Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) until Walker announced in March that he would be bowing out to accept a role working on former Pres. Donald Trump’s campaign.
Walker told FOX8 that the former president offered him the job during a phone conversation at 5 p.m. on March 12, an hour after he publicly accepted an invitation to debate McDowell. In his new role, Walker would serve as the Trump campaign’s director of outreach for faith and minority communities.
Walker formerly represented the 6th District but chose not to run for reelection in 2020. He suspended a 2024 campaign for governor and launched a campaign to reclaim the District 6 seat after Republicans released maps that heavily favored Republicans.
McDowell now goes on to the general election with no other candidates formally on the ballot but not without opposition. Democrat Andy Craighill-Middleton began gathering signatures in early April to become an authorized write-in candidate to challenge McDowell.
U.S. House District 13
Trump once again had a hand in deciding the winner of a runoff when Kelly Daughtry, the top vote-getter in the Republican primary for U.S. House District 13, bowed out of the race and handed the nomination to former president’s pick.
Daughtry, who came out on top in the first primary with 27.39% of the vote, handed the victory to Brad Knott, who earned 18.67% of the vote. The race had already entered early voting in a second primary.
“In light of President Trump’s endorsement of Brad Knott for the Congressional seat in District 13, it has become clear that a pathway to victory is no longer feasible,” Daughtry said. “I believe in the democratic process and respect the endorsement of our President.”
In her concession, Daughtry thanked her supporters and endorsed Knott.
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“I have asked my supporters to formally support Brad’s campaign,” Daughtry said. “Likewise, I have spoken with Brad and know he will advocate and fight for the entire District. We are all on the same team and I hope that the ending of my campaign at this time will show and foster our unity as a party. The future of our republic is too important to be divided by inter-party politics.”
Despite ending her race, she says she intends to dedicate her time to “conservative voter registration operations and supporting the nominated conservative judicial candidates running in November.”
Knott will now go on to face Democrat Frank Pierce in November’s general election.
To find your district, you can use the North Carolina General Assembly’s online map tool.
Important rules for the Second Primary
The North Carolina State Board of Elections does not allow new voter registrations or party changes for a second primary election. Individuals who become eligible to vote between the primary and second primary and who are otherwise eligible to vote in the second primary may register and vote on the day of the second primary, May 14.
Unaffiliated voters should be aware that there are some additional rules when voting in second primaries. In order to vote in a given party’s second primary, an unaffiliated voter must have either voted in that party’s first primary or not voted in the first primary. In other words, to vote in the Republican second primary, an unaffiliated voter must have either voted in the Republican primary in March or not voted in March. Unaffiliated voters who voted in the Democratic primary or a third-party primary cannot vote in the Republican second primary.
Where is my polling place?
To find out where to vote on Election Day for the second primary, May 14, you can put your first and last name into the North Carolina Voter Search tool and click on your profile to find your “Election Day Polling Place.”
On May 14, this is the only location where you will be allowed to vote.
Absentee Voting
If you have an absentee ballot, you must turn it in to your county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. May 14 for your vote to be counted.
In the past, North Carolina would offer a grace period determined by your ballot’s postmark, but that is no longer the case.
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