United States presidential elections in North Carolina

Presidential elections in North Carolina
Number of elections	59
Voted Democratic	30
Voted Republican	18
Voted Whig	3
Voted Democratic-Republican	7
Voted other	1
Voted for winning candidate	40
Voted for losing candidate	19

Following is a table of United States presidential elections in North Carolina, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1789, North Carolina has participated in every U.S. presidential election except the election of 1864, during the American Civil War, when the state had seceded to join the Confederacy. North Carolina did not participate in the 1788–89 United States presidential election, as it did not ratify the Constitution of the United States until months after the end of that election and after George Washington had assumed office as President of the United States.^[1]

Winners of the state are in bold. The shading refers to the state winner, and not the national winner.

Elections from 1864 to present

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Other national candidates^[b]	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes	Notes
2020^[2]	Joe Biden	2,684,292	48.59	Donald Trump	2,758,775	49.93	—			15
2016^[3]	Donald Trump^[c]	2,362,631	49.83	Hillary Clinton	2,189,316	46.17	—			15
2012^[4]	Barack Obama	2,178,391	48.35	Mitt Romney	2,270,395	50.39	—			15
2008^[5]	Barack Obama	2,142,651	49.70	John McCain	2,128,474	49.38	—			15
2004^[6]	George W. Bush	1,961,166	56.02	John Kerry	1,525,849	43.58	—			15
2000^[7]	George W. Bush^[c]	1,631,163	56.03	Al Gore	1,257,692	43.2	—			14
1996^[8]	Bill Clinton	1,107,849	44.04	Bob Dole	1,225,938	48.73	Ross Perot	168,059	6.68	14
1992	Bill Clinton	1,114,042	42.65	George H. W. Bush	1,134,661	43.44	Ross Perot	357,864	13.7	14
1988	George H. W. Bush	1,237,258	57.97	Michael Dukakis	890,167	41.71	—			13
1984	Ronald Reagan	1,346,481	61.90	Walter Mondale	824,287	37.89	—			13
1980	Ronald Reagan	915,018	49.30	Jimmy Carter	875,635	47.18	John B. Anderson	52,800	2.85	13
1976	Jimmy Carter	927,365	55.27	Gerald Ford	741,960	44.22	—			13
1972	Richard Nixon	1,054,889	69.46	George McGovern	438,705	28.89	—			13
1968	Richard Nixon	627,192	39.51	Hubert Humphrey	464,113	29.24	George Wallace	496,188	31.26	13	electoral vote split: 12 to Nixon, 1 to Wallace (faithless elector)
1964	Lyndon B. Johnson	800,139	56.15	Barry Goldwater	624,844	43.85	—			13
1960	John F. Kennedy	713,136	52.11	Richard Nixon	655,420	47.89	—			14
1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower	575,062	49.34	Adlai Stevenson II	590,530	50.66	T. Coleman Andrews/ Unpledged Electors^[d]	—	—	14
1952	Dwight D. Eisenhower	558,107	46.09	Adlai Stevenson II	652,803	53.91	—			14
1948	Harry S. Truman	459,070	58.02	Thomas E. Dewey	258,572	32.68	Strom Thurmond	69,652	8.8	14
1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt	527,399	66.71	Thomas E. Dewey	263,155	33.29	—			14
1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt	609,015	74.03	Wendell Willkie	213,633	25.97	—			13
1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	616,141	73.40	Alf Landon	223,283	26.6	—			13
1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	497,566	69.93	Herbert Hoover	208,344	29.28	—			13
1928	Herbert Hoover	348,923	54.94	Al Smith	286,227	45.06	—			12
1924	Calvin Coolidge	191,753	39.73	John W. Davis	284,270	58.89	Robert M. La Follette	6,651	1.38	12
1920	Warren G. Harding	232,848	43.22	James M. Cox	305,447	56.70	Parley P. Christensen	—	—	12
1916	Woodrow Wilson	168,383	58.10	Charles E. Hughes	120,890	41.71	—			12
1912	Woodrow Wilson	144,407	59.24	Theodore Roosevelt	69,135	28.36	William H. Taft	29,129	11.95	12
1908	William H. Taft	114,887	45.49	William Jennings Bryan	136,928	54.22	—			12
1904	Theodore Roosevelt	82,442	39.67	Alton B. Parker	124,091	59.71	—			12
1900	William McKinley	132,997	45.47	William Jennings Bryan	157,733	53.92	—			11
1896	William McKinley	155,122	46.82	William Jennings Bryan	174,408	52.64	—			11
1892	Grover Cleveland	132,951	47.44	Benjamin Harrison	100,346	35.8	James B. Weaver	44,336	15.82	11
1888	Benjamin Harrison^[c]	134,784	47.20	Grover Cleveland	147,902	51.79	—			11
1884	Grover Cleveland	142,905	53.25	James G. Blaine	125,021	46.59	—			11
1880	James A. Garfield	115,616	47.98	Winfield S. Hancock	124,204	51.55	James B. Weaver	1,126	0.47	10
1876	Rutherford B. Hayes^[c]	108,484	46.38	Samuel J. Tilden	125,427	53.62	—			10
1872	Ulysses S. Grant	94,772	57.38	Horace Greeley	70,130	42.46	—			10
1868	Ulysses S. Grant	96,939	53.4	Horatio Seymour	84,559	46.6	—			9
1864	Abraham Lincoln	No vote due to secession.		George B. McClellan			—			9

Election of 1860

The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
1860	Abraham Lincoln	no ballots		Stephen A. Douglas	2,737	2.8	John C. Breckinridge	48,846	50.5	John Bell	45,129	46.7	10

Elections from 1828 to 1856

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Other national candidates^[b]	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
1856	James Buchanan	48,243	56.78	John C. Frémont	no ballots		Millard Fillmore	36,720	43.22	10
1852	Franklin Pierce	39,778	50.43	Winfield Scott	39,043	49.49	John P. Hale	no ballots		10
1848	Zachary Taylor	44,054	55.17	Lewis Cass	35,772	44.80	Martin Van Buren	no ballots		11
1844	James K. Polk	39,287	47.61	Henry Clay	43,232	52.39	—			11
1840	William Henry Harrison	46,567	57.68	Martin Van Buren	34,168	42.32	—			15
1836	Martin Van Buren	26,631	53.1	Hugh Lawson White	23,521	46.9	various^[e]	no ballots		15
1832	Andrew Jackson	25,261	84.77	Henry Clay	4,538	15.23	William Wirt	no ballots		15
1828	Andrew Jackson	37,814	73.07	John Quincy Adams	13,918	26.90	—			15

Election of 1824

The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes (Andrew Jackson) did not become president, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
1824	Andrew Jackson	20,231	56.03	John Quincy Adams	no ballots		Henry Clay	no ballots		William H. Crawford	15,622	43.26	15

Elections from 1792 to 1820

In the election of 1820, incumbent President James Monroe ran effectively unopposed, winning all 15 of North Carolina's electoral votes, and all electoral votes nationwide except one vote in New Hampshire. To the extent that a popular vote was held, it was primarily directed to filling the office of vice president.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Runner-up (nationally)	Electoral Votes	Notes
1820	James Monroe	—	15	Monroe effectively ran unopposed.
1816	James Monroe	Rufus King	15
1812	James Madison	DeWitt Clinton	15
1808	James Madison	Charles C. Pinckney	14	Electoral vote split, eleven for Madison, three for Pinckney.
1804	Thomas Jefferson	Charles C. Pinckney	14
1800	Thomas Jefferson	John Adams	12	Electoral vote split, eight for Jefferson, four for Adams.
1796	John Adams	Thomas Jefferson	12	Electoral vote split, eleven for Jefferson, one for Adams.
1792	George Washington	—	12	Washington effectively ran unopposed.

Election of 1788 to 1789

North Carolina did not participate in the 1788–89 United States presidential election, as it did not ratify the Constitution of the United States until months after the end of that election and after George Washington had assumed office as President of the United States.^[1]

Notes

^ George Washington, 1792.
^ ^a ^b For purposes of these lists, other national candidates are defined as those who won at least one electoral vote, or won at least ten percent of the vote in multiple states.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Won the electoral college while losing the popular vote
^ Was allied with a slate of unpledged electors in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina
^ Three other candidates ran and received electoral votes nationally as part of the unsuccessful Whig strategy to defeat Martin Van Buren by running four candidates with local appeal in different regions of the country. The others were William Henry Harrison, Daniel Webster, and Willie Person Mangum. None of these candidates appeared on the ballot in North Carolina.