NC Politics in the News

The candidate filing period for the 2016 elections closed at 12:00 p.m. today. All 120 seats of the state House of Representatives, 50 seats ofthe state Senate, the Council of State, and the U.S. Congressional delegation are up in 2016. Additionally, one U.S. Senate seat, one Justiceof the Supreme Court, and three Judges of the Court of Appeals will be on the ballot.

Council of State

Governor:Republican Governor Pat McCrory will be facing both a primary and generalelection. Former state Representative Robert Brawley and Charles KennethMoss are running against Gov. McCrory for the Republican nomination. On theDemocrat side, current Attorney General Roy Cooper and attorney KenSpaulding will be competing for the nomination. Libertarian Lon Cecil willchallenge the winners of the Republican and Democrat primaries in November.

Lt. Governor:Republican Lt. Governor Dan Forrest will be running against both aLibertarian and Democrat in November. Lt. Governor may potentially face his2012 opponent, Democrat Linda Coleman, if she secures the Democratnomination. A total of four Democrats will be competing in the Marchprimary.

Secretary of State:Democrat Elaine Marshall will face a Republican opponent in November.Republicans A.J. Daoud and Michael LaPaglia are competing for the Republicannomination.

State Auditor:Democrat Beth Wood is running for her third term as State Auditor. She facesa general election opponent, Republican Chuck Stuber, a former FBI agent.

State Treasurer:The State Treasurer seat is up for grabs after Democrat Janet Cowellannounced earlier this year that she would be retiring at the end of herterm. Former state Representative Dale Folwell, a Republican fromWinston-Salem, will be competing against the Democrat that wins the partynomination. Democrats Dan Blue III and Ron Elmer both filed for the seat.

Superintendent of Public Instruction:Democrat June Atkinson has both a primary and general election in 2016.Superintendent Atkinson will face Democrat Henry Pankey in March, and threeRepublicans will compete for the party nomination.

Attorney General: When current Attorney General announcedearlier this year that he would be running for Governor, it left this seatopen for the 2016 election. State Senator Buck Newton will compete againstForsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill for the Republican nomination,while State Senator Josh Stein is opposing attorney Marcus Williams on theDemocrat side.

Commissioner of Agriculture:Republican Steve Troxler is running for his fourth term as Commissioner ofAgriculture. He has received both a primary and general election opponentfor 2016. Commissioner Troxler’s Democrat opponent, Walter Smith, lost tohim in 2012.

Commissioner of Labor:Republican Cherie Berry did not receive any primary opposition, but twoDemocrats did file for the seat, including former Raleigh Mayor CharlesMeeker.

Commissioner of Insurance:Democrat Wayne Goodwin will have a general election in 2016. ThreeRepublicans have filed for the seat, including Commissioner Goodwin’s 2012opponent- Mike Causey.

North Carolina General Assembly

House of Representatives:Thirteen sitting members of the state House are not running for reelection:Reps. Nathan Baskerville, Dan Bishop, Rayne Brown, Rick Catlin, TriciaCotham, Leo Daughtry, J.H. Langdon, Jacqueline Schaffer, Paul Stam, PaulTine, Ken Waddell, Roger West, and Chris Whitmire. Rep. Bishop will berunning for District 39 of the state Senate, and the remaining 12legislators will retire at the end of their terms.

Twenty-five sitting House members will face a primary opponent in 2016, and 53 will have a general election opponent. Additionally, 12 of those membershave both a primary and general election opponent.