2010 United States Senate election in North Carolina

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2010 United States Senate election in North Carolina
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  Richard Burr official portrait crop.jpg Elaine Marshall IACA 2018 (cropped).jpg
Nominee Richard Burr Elaine Marshall
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote1,458,0461,145,074
Percentage54.81%43.05%
2010 United States Senate election in North Carolina results map by county.svg
2010 NC Senate.svg
Burr:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Marshall:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Tie:     40–50%
U.S. senator before election

Richard Burr
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Richard Burr
Republican

The 2010 United States Senate election in North Carolina was held on November 2, 2010. The filing deadline for the primaries was February 26; the primaries were held on May 4, with a Democratic primary runoff held on June 22. [1] Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Richard Burr won re-election to a second term. Burr is the first incumbent to win re-election for this seat since Sam Ervin's last re-election in 1968. [2]

Contents

Burr was the first Republican re-elected to this seat. Burr's 54.8% also represented the highest vote share a North Carolina Republican received since the state began directly electing its senators.

Background

This Senate seat was unfavorable to incumbents over the past several decades. No person elected to this seat was re-elected since Sam Ervin in 1968. His successor, Democrat Robert Burren Morgan, was defeated for re-election in 1980, along with many other incumbents from his party. His Republican successor, John Porter East, committed suicide in 1986. East's appointed successor, Jim Broyhill, served for just four months, resigning upon his November 1986 election loss to former Democratic Governor Terry Sanford. In 1992, the seat changed hands yet again, as Sanford was defeated by wealthy GOP businessman Lauch Faircloth, who himself lost in his bid for a second term six years later by John Edwards. In 2004, no incumbent was defeated, as Edwards was running for vice president and was not allowed to be on the ballot in both races. However, that year the seat did change parties for the fifth time in a row, with Richard Burr defeating Bill Clinton's onetime Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles.

Democratic primary

Candidates

From the North Carolina State Board of Elections: [3]

Polling

Poll sourceDates administeredElaine
Marshall		Cal
Cunningham		Kenneth
Lewis
Marshall December 1, 200942%5%7%
Public Policy Polling February 15, 201029%12%5%
Public Policy Polling March 12–15, 201020%16%11%
Public Policy Polling April 8–11, 201023%17%9%
WRAL-TV/SurveyUSA April 25, 201023%19%10%
Public Policy Polling April 27, 201026%23%7%
Public Policy Polling May 1–2, 201028%21%9%
Rasmussen Reports May 4, 201042%37%––
Public Policy Polling May 8–10, 201036%36%––

Results

Democratic primary results – May 4, 2010* [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Elaine Marshall 154,605 36.4%
Democratic Cal Cunningham 115,85127.3%
Democratic Ken Lewis72,51017.1%
Democratic Marcus W. Williams35,9848.5%
Democratic Susan Harris29,7387.0%
Democratic Ann Worthy16,6553.9%
Total votes425,343 100.0%

* Note: Since no candidate received 40% of the vote on May 4, state law allowed a runoff (or "second primary") election if requested by the second-place finisher. Cunningham requested such a runoff. [11]

Democratic primary runoff results – June 22, 2010 [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Elaine Marshall 95,390 60.0%
Democratic Cal Cunningham 63,69140.0%
Total votes159,081 100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Polling

Poll sourceDates administeredRichard
Burr		Brad
Jones		Eddie
Burks
Public Policy Polling February 15, 201055%10%3%
Public Policy Polling March 12–15, 201058%5%4%
Public Policy Polling April 8–11, 201067%7%3%
Survey USA April 26, 201059%6%3%

Results

Republican primary results [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Richard Burr (incumbent) 297,993 80.1%
Republican Brad Jones37,61610.1%
Republican Eddie Burks22,1115.9%
Republican Larry Linney14,2483.8%
Total votes371,968 100.0%

General election

Candidates

Campaign

Marshall was endorsed by The Charlotte Observer , The Wilmington Star-News , the Elizabeth City Daily Advance and The Southern Pines Pilot . [16] Burr was endorsed by the Greensboro News & Record [17] and the Asheville Citizen-Times . [18]

Debates

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
Cook Political Report [22] Likely ROctober 26, 2010
Rothenberg [23] Likely ROctober 22, 2010
RealClearPolitics [24] Likely ROctober 26, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball [25] Likely ROctober 21, 2010
CQ Politics [26] Likely ROctober 26, 2010

Polling

Poll sourceDates administeredMoERichard
Burr (R)		Elaine
Marshall (D)		Michael
Beitler (L)
Public Policy Polling March 12–15, 2009± 3.1%43%35%––
Public Policy Polling August 4–10, 2009± 3.6%43%31%––
Public Policy Polling September 2–8, 2009± 4.0%42%31%––
Rasmussen Reports September 15, 2009± 4.5%48%38%––
Public Policy Polling October 2–4, 2009± 3.8%44%32%––
Public Policy Polling November 9–11, 2009± 3.7%45%34%––
Public Policy Polling December 11–13, 2009± 4.0%42%37%––
Public Policy Polling January 15–18, 2010± 3.8%44%37%––
Rasmussen Reports January 27, 2010± 4.5%47%37%––
Public Policy Polling February 12–15, 2010± 3.5%43%33%––
Rasmussen Reports February 23, 2010± 4.5%50%34%––
Rasmussen Reports March 22, 2010± 4.5%51%35%––
Rasmussen Reports April 19, 2010± 4.5%50%32%––
Rasmussen Reports May 5, 2010± 4.5%48%40%––
Public Policy Polling May 8–10, 2010± 3.9%43%42%––
Rasmussen Reports June 3, 2010± 3.0%50%36%––
Public Policy Polling June 4–6, 2010± 3.9%46%39%––
Rasmussen Reports June 23, 2010± 4.5%44%43%––
SurveyUSA June 23–24, 2010± 4.0%50%40%6%
Public Policy Polling June 26–27, 2010± 4.4%38%33%10%
Rasmussen Reports July 6, 2010± 4.5%52%37%––
Survey USA July 8–11, 2010± 4.2%46%36%6%
Lake Research July 15–19, 2010± 4.0%35%37%5%
Public Policy Polling July 27–31, 2010± 3.9%39%37%7%
Rasmussen Reports August 3, 2010± 4.5%49%40%––
Public Policy Polling August 27–29, 2010± 3.6%43%38%6%
Rasmussen Reports September 8, 2010± 4.5%54%38%––
SurveyUSA September 14, 2010± 4.1%58%32%6%
Civitas September 15–17, 2010± 4.0%49%29%3%
Public Polling Policy September 23–26, 2010± 3.8%49%36%4%
High Point University September 25–30, 2010± 5.0%45%31%4%
Rasmussen Reports October 12, 2010± 4.5%52%38%––
Public Policy Polling October 15–17, 2010± 4.0%48%40%3%
SurveyUSA October 22–25, 2010± 4.1%53%38%5%
Public Policy Polling October 29–31, 2010± 3.4%52%40%2%

Fundraising

Candidate (party)ReceiptsDisbursementsCash on handDebt
Richard Burr (R)$8,444,115$8,735,725$1,600,695$0
Elaine Marshall (D)$2,561,900$2,229,840$329,886$71,500
Michael Beitler (L)$16,302$9,951$6,350$11,906
Source: Federal Election Commission [27]

Results

2010 United States Senate election in North Carolina [28]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Richard Burr (incumbent) 1,458,046 54.81% +3.21%
Democratic Elaine Marshall 1,145,07443.05%-3.97%
Libertarian Mike Beitler55,6822.09%+0.72%
Write-in 1,2720.05%+0.04%
Total votes2,660,079 100.00% N/A
Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "State Board of Elections Calendar". Sboe.state.nc.us. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  2. ↑ Election 2010: North Carolina Senate, Rasmussen Reports, March 24, 2010.
  3. 1 2 "State Board of Elections: Candidate Filing List". Sboe.state.nc.us. February 26, 2010. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  4. ↑ "NC-Sen: Democrats get Cunningham". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 27, 2010.
  5. ↑ McArdle, John. "Good News, Bad Timing on N.C. Senate Race". CQ Politics. Retrieved June 14, 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  6. ↑ Christensen, Rob. "News & Observer: 2nd-tier Senate hopefuls soldier on". Newsobserver.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2010. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  7. ↑ "News & Observer: Durham lawyer eyes Burr seat". Projects.newsobserver.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Democrats expand their search for Burr challenger". March 10, 2009. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  9. ↑ "News & Observer blog: Marshall running for U.S. Senate". Projects.newsobserver.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  10. 1 2 3 "The 2010 Results Maps". Politico.Com. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  11. ↑ "News & Observer: Cunningham wants a runoff". Projects.newsobserver.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Asheboro council member to challenge Burr". News & Record . January 21, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Western NC businessman files for Senate race". The Sun News. February 16, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2010.[ dead link ]
  14. ↑ "He's at it again: Larry Linney files for U.S. Senate run". Asheville Citizen-Times . March 2, 2010. Retrieved March 2, 2010.[ dead link ]
  15. ↑ "Bryan School directory". Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Marshall Nabs Key Newspaper Endorsements | Elaine Marshall for U.S. Senate". Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Editorial: Burr for Senate : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis". Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. ↑ "Tar Heels need a senator who can say yes | The Asheville Citizen-Times | citizen-times.com" . Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  19. ↑ "News". The Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  20. ↑ NC Senate Candidates Burr and Marshall Miami Herald. 14 October 2010 [ dead link ]
  21. ↑ Testy debate [ permanent dead link ]
  22. ↑ "Senate". Cook Political Report . Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  23. ↑ "Senate Ratings". Rothenberg Political Report . Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  24. ↑ "Battle for the Senate". RealClearPolitics . Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  25. ↑ "2010 Senate Ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball . Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  26. ↑ "Race Ratings Chart: Senate". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  27. ↑ "2010 House and Senate Campaign Finance for North Carolina". fec.gov. Retrieved July 25, 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  28. ↑ "NC – Election Results" . Retrieved December 20, 2022.
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