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 County results Congressional district resultsAtkinson: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Tedesco: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | ||||||||||||||||
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The2012 North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction election was held on November 6, 2012, to elect theNorth Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction, concurrently with the2012 presidential election, as well as elections to theU.S. House of Representatives,governor, theCouncil of State, and otherstate,local, andjudicial elections.Primary elections were held on May 8, 2012, with aRepublican primaryrunoff election being held on July 17.[1] A debate was held on October 15, 2012.[2]
IncumbentDemocratic state superintendentJune Atkinson ran for re-election to a third term in office, becoming the Democratic nominee uncontested. RepublicanWake 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]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | June Atkinson (incumbent) | Unopposed | ||
| Total votes | N/a | 100.0 | ||
| Poll source | Date(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, 2012 | 469 (LV) | ± 4.5% | 16% | 14% | 12% | 6% | 6% | 45% |
| Civitas Institute/National Research[12] | April 30–May 2, 2012 | 400 (LV) | ± 4.9% | 16% | 7% | 2% | – | 7% | 67%[b] |
| Public Policy Polling[13] | April 27–29, 2012 | 486 (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, 2012 | 521 (V) | ± 4.3% | 16% | 13% | 6% | 5% | 4% | 57% |
| Public Policy Polling[16] | February 29–March 1, 2012 | 411 (LV) | ± 4.8% | 12% | 7% | 6% | 4% | 5% | 66% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Tedesco | 195,352 | 28.35% | |
| Republican | Richard Alexander | 167,354 | 24.28% | |
| Republican | Mark Crawford | 150,404 | 21.82% | |
| Republican | Ray Ernest Martin | 90,889 | 13.19% | |
| Republican | David Scholl | 85,145 | 12.36% | |
| Total votes | 689,144 | 100.00% | ||
| Runoff election | ||||
| Republican | John Tedesco | 75,780 | 54.42% | |
| Republican | Richard Alexander | 63,461 | 45.58% | |
| Total votes | 139,241 | 100.00% | ||
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | June Atkinson (D) | John Tedesco (R) | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Polling[20] | October 23–25, 2012 | 880 (LV) | ± 3.3% | 42% | 40% | 18% |
| Public Policy Polling[21] | September 27–30, 2012 | 981 (LV) | ± 3.1% | 44% | 34% | 22% |
| Public Policy Polling[22] | August 2–5, 2012 | 813 (LV) | ± 3.4% | 44% | 37% | 19% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | June Atkinson (incumbent) | 2,336,441 | 54.24% | |
| Republican | John Tedesco | 1,971,049 | 45.76% | |
| Total votes | 4,307,490 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
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]
| District | Atkinson | Tedesco | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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