Biden handily wins NC primary; Senate, governor races set
Former Vice President Joe Biden won North Carolina’s Democratic primary Tuesday, and those of four other Southern states, in a dramatic revival of a presidential campaign that appeared to be sinking just a week ago.
With 94% of N.C. precincts reporting, Biden had 43% of the vote, leading Sen. Bernie Sanders with 24%, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg with 13% and Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 10%. News outlets also projected Biden the winner in Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas.
Biden had hoped Super Tuesday would add to the momentum he gained with his landslide win in South Carolina’s primary Saturday. Three other moderate Democrats — Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke — endorsed him Monday.
State poll results released just last week had shown Biden in a tight race with Sanders and Bloomberg. More recent polls showed Biden widening his lead over Sanders.
Exit polls Tuesday showed Biden benefited from the support of black voters, news outlets reported, while Sanders dominated among young voters. North Carolina returns showed Biden winning nearly all 100 counties, including Mecklenburg, with Sanders carrying only a handful of mountain counties.
North Carolina will send 110 delegates to the Democratic convention in July, third-most after California and Texas among the 14 states voting Tuesday.
Down the ballot, Democrat Cal Cunningham built a big early lead over high school teacher and engineer Erica Smith, 57% to 35%, for the right to face Republican Sen. Thom Tillis in November. Tillis easily beat three GOP primary challengers. Cunningham, a lawyer, is a former state senator and former Army prosecutor.
In the 9th District House race, Democrat Cynthia Wallace built a large lead for the right to face Republican Dan Bishop of Charlotte.
In other results with about 94% of statewide precincts reporting:
- Gov. Roy Cooper and Lt. Gov. Dan Forest defeated Democratic and Republican primary challengers, respectively, and will face off in the governor’s race in November.
- State Rep. Yvonne Lewis Holley led five other Democrats in the lieutenant governor’s race to replace Forest but faced a possible runoff. Republican Mark Robinson built a large lead over eight other GOP challengers.
- Republican Catherine Truitt led Craig Horn in the race to replace Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson, a Republican who ran for lieutenant governor. Jen Mangrum was leading four other Democrats running for their nomination.
- Charlotte City Council member Dimple Ajmera trailed Ronnie Chatterji by about one percentage point in the Democratic primary for state treasurer. The winner will face Republican incumbent Dale Folwell.
In Mecklenburg County results, with 97% of precincts reporting:
- Incumbents Ella Scarborough and Pat Cotham led in the Democrats’ race for three at-large Mecklenburg County commissioners’ seats. Leigh Altman was leading Ray McKinnon by fewer than 5,000 votes for the third seat. Tuesday’s winners face no Republican opposition in November.
- District Judge Aretha Blake easily defeated challenger Lynna Moen in the Democratic primary for a District 26 judgeship. Blake filed a libel and slander suit against a WBTV reporter last week over allegations that she had mismanaged cases as a Family Court judge.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 11:06 PM.