2020 North Carolina Secretary of State election

2020 North Carolina Secretary of State election
November 3, 2020 (2020-11-03)
Turnout75.35%
 
Candidate Elaine Marshall E.C. Sykes
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 2,755,571 2,630,559
Percentage 51.16% 48.84%
  • Marshall:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80–90%      >90%
  • Sykes:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%      >90%
Secretary of State before election

Elaine Marshall
Democratic

Elected Secretary of State

Elaine Marshall
Democratic

The 2020 North Carolina Secretary of State election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the North Carolina Secretary of State, concurrently with elections for president of the United States, the United States Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, Council of State, and other state, local and judicial elections.

Incumbent Democratic secretary of state Elaine Marshall won re-election to a seventh term in office, defeating businessman E.C. Sykes.[1]

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary for Secretary of State was cancelled. No votes were tallied, and incumbent Elaine Marshall became the Democratic nominee automatically.[2]

Candidates

Nominee

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

  • E.C. Sykes, former manufacturing CEO[4]

Eliminated in primary

  • Chad Brown, member of the Gaston County Board of Commissioners[5]
  • Michael LaPaglia, museum curator and nominee for Secretary of State in 2016[6]

Endorsements

E.C. Sykes

U.S. senators

Individuals

Newspapers and other media

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin of
error 		Chad
Brown 		Michael
LaPaglia 		E.C.
Sykes 		Undecided
Harper Polling/Civitas Institute[8] December 2–4, 2019 500 (LV) ± 4.38% 20% 4% 5% 71%

Results

Republican primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican E.C. Sykes 296,457 42.91%
Republican Chad Brown 262,595 38.01%
Republican Michael LaPaglia 131,832 19.08%
Total votes 690,884 100.00%

General election

Post-primary endorsements

Elaine Marshall (D)

Newspapers and other media

Organizations

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[13] Likely D October 28, 2020
Elections Daily[14] Lean D September 15, 2020

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin of
error 		Elaine
Marshall (D) 		E.C.
Sykes (R) 		Undecided
Cardinal Point Analytics[15] July 13–15, 2020 547 (LV) ± 4.2% 47% 39% 14%

Results

2020 North Carolina Secretary of State election[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Elaine Marshall (incumbent) 2,755,571 51.16%
Republican E.C. Sykes 2,630,559 48.84%
Total votes 5,386,130 100.00%
Democratic hold

By congressional district

Despite losing the state, Sykes won 8 of 13 congressional districts.[17]

District Marshall Sykes Representative
1st 58% 42% G. K. Butterfield
2nd 66% 34% Deborah Ross
3rd 41% 59% Greg Murphy
4th 68% 32% David Price
5th 35% 65% Virginia Foxx
6th 63% 37% Kathy Manning
7th 44% 56% David Rouzer
8th 49% 51% Richard Hudson
9th 47% 53% Dan Bishop
10th 34% 66% Patrick McHenry
11th 44% 56% Madison Cawthorn
12th 71% 29% Alma Adams
13th 35% 65% Ted Budd

Notes

  1. ^ a b Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear

References

  1. ^ Hopkins, Paige; Peralta Soloff, Katie; Way, Emma (November 4, 2020). "Governor Cooper wins reelection. Plus: Results from all 40 contests on your ballot". Axios Charlotte. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "NC SBE Contest Results". North Carolina State Board of Elections. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  3. ^ Morrill, Jim (October 1, 2020). "2020 election: What NC Secretary of State candidates said in our voter guide questionnaire". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Miller, Chris (February 16, 2020). "Hundreds of people come out to support Ted Cruz, E.C. Sykes". The Stanly News & Press. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  5. ^ Fohner, Kara (December 12, 2022). "Gaston County commissioner to run again for secretary of state". Gaston Gazette. Retrieved December 25, 2025. Gaston County Commissioner Chad Brown originally ran in the 2020 primary in an attempt to become the Republican candidate that would face Democrat Elaine F. Marshall, who has been secretary of state since 1997.
  6. ^ a b Battaglia, Danielle (February 8, 2020). "NC Republicans once considered impeaching Elaine Marshall. Now 3 want to unseat her". The News & Observer. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  7. ^ Hammer, John (February 26, 2020). "Rhino Times Republican Endorsements". Rhino Times. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  8. ^ "19.12-Civitas-NC-GOP-Primary-Toplines.pdf" (PDF). Civitas Institute. December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  9. ^ "Endorsements: Our choices for NC schools superintendent, agriculture commissioner, labor commissioner and secretary of state". The Charlotte Observer. October 21, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  10. ^ Tauss, Leigh (October 14, 2020). "2020 Endorsements: Council of State". Indy Week. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  11. ^ "Here are all the News & Observer's 2020 endorsements". The News & Observer. November 2, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  12. ^ Northam, Mitchell; Jacobs, Rusty (September 21, 2020). "2020 North Carolina Election: Breaking Down Statewide Races". WUNC. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  13. ^ Jacobson, Louis (October 28, 2020). "Final 2020 State Legislature, Secretary of State and Attorney General Handicapping". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  14. ^ Cunningham, Eric (September 15, 2020). "A Guide to North Carolina's Council of State Elections". Elections Daily. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  15. ^ "Voter Preference Survey" (PDF). Cardinal Point Analytics. July 20, 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 22, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  16. ^ "NC SBE Contest Results". North Carolina State Board of Elections. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  17. ^ "NC 2020 Congressional (Court Approved - HB 1029 - Converted)". Dave's Redistricting. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
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