North Carolina Republican primary results 2016

In North Carolina's Republican primaries Tuesday, the presidential and statewide elections had several contested races and some sweeping victories. Below is a breakdown of each major race as of 12:30 a.m. March 16, with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

Presidential Race

Donald Trump narrowly defeated Ted Cruz in North Carolina’s Republican primary with 40.3 percent to Cruz’s 36.75 percent.

But as a state that awards its delegates proportionally, Cruz’s second place win still matters. The breakdown of total delegates is as follows for the three candidates:

• Trump: 27 delegates from North Carolina, 619 total.
• Cruz: 24 delegates from North Carolina, 394 total.
• Kasich: 7 delegates from North Carolina, 136 total.

North Carolina's primaries were held earlier this year, as opposed to the state's typical May date. But political experts say the change did not put North Carolina in the spotlight as much as legislators had hoped.

“Ohio and Florida have eclipsed the significance of North Carolina,” said Susan Roberts, an associate professor of political science at Davidson College.

Ohio and Florida, both winner take-all states, also held primaries Tuesday, as well as Illinois and Missouri. 

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio announced the suspension of his campaign after a significant loss in his home state.

The breakdown for those races are as follows:

• Ohio: Kasich declared victorious, all 66 delegates awarded.
• Illinois: Trump declared victorious, 24 delegates awarded.
• Florida: Trump declared victorious, all 99 delegates awarded.
• Missouri: No winner has been declared yet in a tight race between Cruz and Trump.

Roberts said super PAC advertising against Trump might have influenced some last minute voters somewhat in North Carolina but especially in Ohio.

“At least four different super PACs have been against Trump,” she said.

Despite Trump’s victories, Kasich’s Ohio win could prevent Trump from earning the necessary 1,237 delegates to avoid a contested convention.

Rob Schofield, policy director at N.C. Policy Watch, said Trump’s victory reveals a disconnect between the party and its constituents.

“It shows that at least within the Republican party, there’s a pretty big schism that has developed between the powers that be and a lot of their rank-and-file voters,” Schofield said. “That’s in general why conservative and Republican leaders are concerned — they’re not quite sure what it means for their party if their nominee is someone who disagrees with them on half of their agenda.”

Roberts said the N.C. GOP is concerned about Trump’s positions on what they call “value issues,” or gay marriage and abortion access.

“Cruz fits more the conservative agenda that the state legislature has been putting forth,” she said.

But, like Schofield, she said North Carolina Republican voters have rejected the establishment candidates in favor of Trump.

“The Republicans have said that they want an outsider, they do not want experience,” Roberts said.

Gubernatorial Race

N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory easily swept his opponents in the Republican gubernatorial primary, with 81.75 percent of the vote compared to 10.6 percent for C. Robert Brawley and 7.66 percent for Charles Kenneth Moss.

Mitch Kokai, a senior political analyst at the John Locke Foundation, said McCrory was expected to win an overwhelming percentage of the vote.

“Anything less than 70 percent on primary night would (have been) a concern,” he said.

But running against the Democrats in November could be an additional challenge for McCrory and other Republicans in the state if Trump is the nominee, Schofield said.

“I think, in general, the governor, Senator Burr, others who are going to be on the ballot in November, are very concerned about running with Donald Trump and what it would mean for their prospects,” he said. “It’s quite a wild card.”

Attorney General Race

Buck Newton beat Jim O’Neill 54.98 percent to 45.02 percent in a close race for state attorney general primary in which there was no incumbent.

“It (was) a battle amongst people who aren’t terrifically well known on both sides,” Kokai said.

U.S. Senate Race

Incumbent Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., defeated his challengers for the Republican Senate primary, but not by as sweeping of a majority as was expected. Here are the percentage breakdowns for each candidate:

• Richard Burr: 61.42 percent
• Greg Brannon: 25.16 percent 
• Paul Wright: 8.49 percent 
• Larry Holmquist: 4.93 percentage 

Kokai said because Burr’s majority was not as high as expected, he may have some work to do in November to win a reelection.

“He might need to shore up his base with conservatives while pursuing independent and unaffiliated voters for the fall,” he said.

state@dailytarheel.com