2012 North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction election

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2012 North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction election
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November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06)
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  June Atkinson.png 3x4.svg
Candidate June Atkinson John Tedesco
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote2,336,4411,971,049
Percentage54.24%45.76%
2012 North Carolina superintendent of public instruction election results map by county.svg
2012 North Carolina secretary of state election results map by congressional district.svg
Atkinson:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Tedesco:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Superintendent of Public Instruction before election

June Atkinson
Democratic

Elected Superintendent of Public Instruction

June Atkinson
Democratic

The 2012 North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction election was held on November 6, 2012, to elect the North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction, concurrently with the 2012 presidential election, as well as elections to the U.S. House of Representatives, governor, the Council of State, and other state, local, and judicial elections. Primary elections were held on May 8, 2012, with a Republican primary runoff election being held on July 17. [1] A debate was held on October 15, 2012. [2]

Contents

Incumbent Democratic state superintendent June Atkinson ran for re-election to a third term in office, becoming the Democratic nominee uncontested. Republican Wake County School Board member John Tedesco won a heavily contested Republican primary, defeating teacher Richard Alexander in a July primary runoff and several other candidates in the May primary election. [3] Atkinson won the general election by around 9 percentage points. [4] [5]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Withdrew before primary

Results

Democratic primary results [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic June Atkinson (incumbent) Unopposed
Total votesN/a100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary runoff

Eliminated in primary

Endorsements

Ray Ernest Martin

Newspapers and other media

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [a] 		Margin
of error		John
Tedesco		Richard
Alexander		Mark
Crawford		Ray
Ernest Martin		David
Scholl		Undecided
Public Policy Polling [11] May 5–6, 2012469 (LV)± 4.5%16%14%12%6%6%45%
Civitas Institute/National Research [12] April 30–May 2, 2012400 (LV)± 4.9%16%7%2%–7%67% [b]
Public Policy Polling [13] April 27–29, 2012486 (LV)± 4.4%16%13%8%5%6%52%
Civitas Institute/SurveyUSA [14] April 20–23, 2012– (V)± 5.0%21%9%10%5%8%47%
Public Policy Polling [15] April 20–22, 2012521 (V)± 4.3%16%13%6%5%4%57%
Public Policy Polling [16] February 29–March 1, 2012411 (LV)± 4.8%12%7%6%4%5%66%

Results

Primary results by county .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Tedesco 20-30% 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% Alexander 20-30% 30-40% 40-50% Crawford 20-30% 30-40% 40-50% 2012 North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Republican primary by county.svg
Primary results by county
  Tedesco
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Alexander
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  Crawford
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
Runoff results by county Tedesco 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% Alexander 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 2012 North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Republican primary runoff by county.svg
Runoff results by county
  Tedesco
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  Alexander
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
Republican primary results [7] [17]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican John Tedesco 195,352 28.35%
Republican Richard Alexander 167,354 24.28%
Republican Mark Crawford150,40421.82%
Republican Ray Ernest Martin90,88913.19%
Republican David Scholl85,14512.36%
Total votes689,144 100.00%
Runoff election
Republican John Tedesco 75,780 54.42%
Republican Richard Alexander63,46145.58%
Total votes139,241 100.00%


General election

Endorsements

June Atkinson (D)

Newspapers and other media

Labor unions

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [a] 		Margin
of error		June
Atkinson (D)		John
Tedesco (R)		Undecided
Public Policy Polling [20] October 23–25, 2012880 (LV)± 3.3%42%40%18%
Public Policy Polling [21] September 27–30, 2012981 (LV)± 3.1%44%34%22%
Public Policy Polling [22] August 2–5, 2012813 (LV)± 3.4%44%37%19%

Results

2012 North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction election [23]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic June Atkinson (incumbent) 2,336,441 54.24%
Republican John Tedesco1,971,04945.76%
Total votes4,307,490 100.00%
Democratic hold

By congressional district

Despite losing the state, Tedesco won nine of 13 congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat, with the remaining four going to Atkinson, including one that elected a Republican. [24]

DistrictAtkinsonTedescoRepresentative
1st 77%23% G. K. Butterfield
2nd 49%51% Renee Ellmers
3rd 47%53% Walter B. Jones Jr.
4th 75%25% David Price
5th 45%55% Virginia Foxx
6th 48%52% Howard Coble
7th 48%52% Mike McIntyre
8th 49%51% Larry Kissell
Richard Hudson
9th 45%55% Sue Myrick
Robert Pittenger
10th 46%54% Patrick McHenry
11th 44%56% Heath Shuler
Mark Meadows
12th 80%20% Mel Watt
13th 52%48% Brad Miller
George Holding

Notes

  1. 1 2 Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. ↑ Labeled as "Other"

References

  1. ↑ "Historical Election Results | Board of Elections | Johnston County, North Carolina". Johnston County, North Carolina. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  2. 1 2 Way, Dan (October 16, 2012). "Superintendent Candidates Articulate Sharp Contrasts at Forum". The Carolina Journal. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  3. ↑ Aronson, Issac-Davy (July 16, 2012). "GOP Runoff for Superintendent of Public Instruction". WUNC. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  4. ↑ Dalesio, Emery (November 6, 2012). "GOP sees big wins in N.C. offices including governor". USA TODAY. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Republicans Win Governor's Race, Gain Seats in General Assembly". The Carolina Journal. November 7, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  6. 1 2 Bass, David (April 9, 2012). "GOP Superintendent Candidate Would Put Himself Out of a Job". The Carolina Journal. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  7. 1 2 "NC SBE Contest Results". North Carolina State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
  8. 1 2 Burrows, Sara (June 18, 2012). "Tedesco Faces Runoff Challenge for State Superintendent". The Carolina Journal. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  9. 1 2 DeWitt, Dave (April 25, 2012). "GOP Candidates For State Superintendent". WUNC. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  10. ↑ "2012 Primary Endorsements". Indy Week. April 18, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  11. ↑ Jensen, Tom (May 6, 2012). "Dalton, McCrory, Amendment lead in North Carolina" (PDF). Public Policy Polling. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  12. ↑ Tynen, Jim (May 3, 2012). "Civitas Poll: GOP Voters Not Making Decision Clear – Runoffs Likely". Civitas Institute. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  13. ↑ Jensen, Tom (May 2, 2012). "Lots of shrugged shoulders in N.C. GOP races" (PDF). Public Policy Polling. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  14. ↑ "May Primary Flash Poll". Civitas Institute. April 26, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  15. ↑ Jensen, Tom (April 25, 2012). "Romney, McCrory up big in NC" (PDF). Public Policy Polling. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  16. ↑ Jensen, Tom (March 2, 2012). "Santorum leads in North Carolina". Public Policy Polling. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  17. ↑ "NC SBE Contest Results". North Carolina State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  18. ↑ "2012 General Election Voting Guide". Indy Week. October 17, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Election 2012: Boilermakers recommend candidates". Boilermakers. October 23, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  20. ↑ Jensen, Tom (October 25, 2012). "Presidential race all square in North Carolina" (PDF). Public Policy Polling. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  21. ↑ Jensen, Tom (October 1, 2012). "McCrory leads by 10" (PDF). Public Policy Polling. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  22. ↑ Jensen, Tom (August 8, 2012). "Stable Lead for McCrory in NC Governor Race" (PDF). Public Policy Polling. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  23. ↑ "NC SBE Contest Results". North Carolina State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
  24. ↑ "north carolina 2012 supinst-by-cd".
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