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North Carolina's 12th congressional district | |||||||||||||||||
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 County results | |||||||||||||||||
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Aspecial election for theUnited States House of Representatives inNorth Carolina's 12th congressional district was held on November 4, 2014, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of U.S. Rep.Mel Watt following his appointment to head the Federal Housing Administration.
North Carolina GovernorPat McCrory chose to hold the election concurrently with the regular 2014 general elections,[1] rather than hold a separate special election at an earlier date to fill the vacancy. Party primary elections for the seat would be held May 6.Primary runoffs, if needed, were scheduled for July 15 but proved unnecessary, because the only primary winner won more than 40 percent of the vote. According to politician Gerry Cohen, the primary was the first special primary election in North Carolina history, because in previous special elections, committees or conventions of party leaders selected their nominees.[2]
The winner of the special election would serve through the remaining months of the113th Congress, while the winner of theregular general election being held the same day would serve in the114th Congress.[3] This is essentially the same procedure used in North Carolina in1992 to fill the vacancy in theFirst Congressional District (other than the addition of a primary election). Because Watt resigned in January and the winner of the special election was not seated until after the November election result is official, the district was without a representative for more than 11 months.
Democratic CongressmanMel Watt was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on December 10, 2013, to head theFederal Housing Finance Agency.[4] He resigned from Congress on January 6, 2014, the day he took office as director of FHFA.[5]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Alma Adams | George Battle | Marcus Brandon | Malcolm Graham | James Mitchell | Curtis Osborne | Rajive Patel | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton (D-Adams)[10] | February 28 – March 4, 2014 | 500 | ± 4.4% | 26% | 9% | 4% | 19% | 9% | 3% | 1% | 29% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Alma Adams | 14,967 | 44.2 | |
| Democratic | Malcolm Graham | 7,495 | 22.1 | |
| Democratic | George Battle III | 4,431 | 13.1 | |
| Democratic | Marcus Brandon | 2,984 | 8.8 | |
| Democratic | James "Smuggie" Mitchell, Jr. | 2,034 | 6.0 | |
| Democratic | Curtis C. Osborne | 1,939 | 5.7 | |
| Total votes | 33,850 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Alma Adams | 127,668 | 75.43% | −4.20% | |
| Republican | Vince Coakley | 41,578 | 24.57% | +4.20% | |
| Total votes | '169,246' | '100.0%' | N/A | ||
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