2004 North Carolina gubernatorial election

none related races 2004 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 September 2023 2004 North Carolina gubernatorial election North Carolina presidential no 2000 North Carolina gubernatorial election 2000 2008 North Carolina gubernatorial election 2008 November 2, 2004 150x150px File:Mike Easley.jpg Mike Easley Democratic Party (United States) 1,939,154 55.62% File:Senator Patrick J. Ballantine (cropped).gif Patrick Ballantine Republican Party (United States) 1,495,021 42.88% 325px County results 325px Precinct results 1 325px Easley: #A5B0FF 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% #0D0596 >90%Ballantine: #FFB2B2 40–50% #E27F7F 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #D72F30 70–80% #C21B18 80–90%Tie: #d2b1d9 40–50% Governor Mike Easley Democratic Party (United States) Mike Easley Democratic Party (United States) The 2004 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2004. The general election was between the Democratic incumbent Mike Easley and the Republican nominee Patrick J. Ballantine. Easley won by 56% to 43%, winning his second term as governor. Primaries Democratic Mike Easley was first elected as governor in 2000 and opted to run for a second term. He faced opposition in the Democratic primary from Rickey Kipfer, a former corporate manager from Lee County. Kipfer campaigned on a platform of abolishing North Carolina's personal income tax and exploring potential natural gas resources in the state. He envisioned the state replacing income tax revenue with revenue from natural gas exploration. Kipfer also proposed a system similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund as a means of distributing potential natural gas revenues to citizens in North Carolina.Robertson Gary Republicans not Easley's only competition https://www.starnewsonline.com/article/NC/20040719/News/605096938/WM 29 June 2021 Wilmington Star News 19 July 2004 en June 29, 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210629002208/https://www.starnewsonline.com/article/NC/20040719/News/605096938/WM dead Vinroot, Ballantine To Meet In GOP Gubernatorial Runoff https://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1090592/ 29 June 2021 WRAL.com 21 July 2004 en Easley's campaign manager stated that they did not consider Kipfer as serious competition. Easley did not campaign against Kipfer. Mike Easley won the primary comfortably with over 85% of the vote. Candidates Declared Mike Easley, incumbent governor Rickey Kipfer, businessman Results 2004 North Carolina gubernatorial Democratic primary election Democratic Party (United States) Mike Easley (incumbent) 379,498 85.37 Democratic Party (United States) Rickey Kipfer 65,061 14.63 444,559 100 Republican Candidates Declared Patrick J. Ballantine, Minority Leader of the North Carolina Senate (1999–2004) Dan Barett, attorney and Davie County Commissioner Bill Cobey, Chair of the North Carolina Republican Party (1999–2003) and U.S. Representative from NC-04 (1985–1987) George Little, insurance executiveBallantine may step back from position https://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20040417/ballantine-may-step-back-from-position 29 June 2021 Wilmington Star News 17 April 2004 en Fern Shubert, state senator (2003–2005) Richard Vinroot, Mayor of Charlotte (1991–1995), nominee for governor in 2000 and candidate for governor in 1996 Withdrawn Timothy Cook, chemist (running for lieutenant governor)Dyer Eric Fields set for N.C. elections in 2004 https://greensboro.com/news/political/fields-set-for-n-c-elections-in-2004/article_458041c1-cfcc-5b55-bb17-e46cf6293a1c.html Greensboro News and Record 7 May 2004 en Declined James Cain, former president of the Carolina HurricanesDavie lawyer, Republican, to run for governor https://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20030520/davie-lawyer-republican-to-run-for-governor 29 June 2021 Wilmington Star News 20 May 2003 en I. Beverly Lake Jr., Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court (2001–2006) Results thumb|300px|Primary results by county: Ballantine #400202 Ballantine—81-90% #6d0404 Ballantine—71-80% #a70808 Ballantine—61-70% #d60f0f Ballantine—51-60% #ff0000 Ballantine—41-50% #f29b8a Ballantine—31-40% #f8dbd5 Ballantine—21-30% Vinroot #f2f26c Vinroot—41-50% #f2f2a0 Vinroot—31-40% #f8f8cc Vinroot—21-30% Cobey #006400 Cobey—51-60% #59d622 Cobey—41-50% #90ee90 Cobey—31-40% Barrett #154bef Barrett—51-60% #a1ffff Barrett—21-30% Shubert #e97c11 Shubert—31-40% Little #af00ee Little—51-60% 2004 North Carolina gubernatorial Republican primary election Republican Party (United States) Patrick J. Ballantine 110,726 30.38 Republican Party (United States) Richard Vinroot 109,217 29.97 Republican Party (United States) Bill Cobey 97,461 26.74 Republican Party (United States) Dan Barrett 19,097 5.24 Republican Party (United States) Fern Shubert 14,445 3.96 Republican Party (United States) George Little 13,474 3.70 364,420 100 General election Predictions Source Ranking As of Sabato's Crystal BallThe Final Predictions https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/ljs2004110101/ Sabato's Crystal Ball May 2, 2021 Likely D November 1, 2004 Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesizekey Key:A – all adultsRV – registered votersLV – likely votersV – unclear Marginof error MikeEasley (D) PatrickBallantine (R) Other /UndecidedSurveyUSASurveyUSA October 29–31, 2004 617 (LV) ± 4.0% 55% 41% 5% Results 2004 North Carolina gubernatorial electionNorth Carolina DataNet #46 http://southnow.org/southnow-publications/nc-datanet/DataNet%20April08.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20080725034758/http://southnow.org/southnow-publications/nc-datanet/DataNet%20April08.pdf dead 2008-07-25 April 2008 University of North Carolina 2009-06-12 Democratic Party (United States) Mike Easley (incumbent) 1,939,154 55.62% +3.60% Republican Party (United States) Patrick J. Ballantine 1,495,021 42.88% -3.38% Libertarian Party (United States) Barbara Howe 52,513 1.51% +0.06% 3,486,688 Democratic Party (United States) Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Cleveland (largest town: Shelby) Polk (Largest city: Tryon) Rutherford (Largest city: Forest City) Surry (Largest city: Mount Airy) Mecklenburg (Largest city: Charlotte) Alleghany (largest town: Sparta) Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Currituck (largest town: Moyock) Johnston (largest town: Clayton) Notes References 30em External links 2004 Gubernatorial Republican Primary Election Results Official campaign websites (Archived) Mike Easley Patrick Ballantine Dan Barrett Bill Cobey George Little Fern Shubert Richard Vinroot Tim Cook North Carolina 2004 gubernatorial