North Carolina

North Carolina is a constituent state of the United States located on the Atlantic coast, midway between New York and Florida. It is one of the original 13 colonies and joined the Union in November 1789 as the 12th state.

During the Civil War, North Carolina seceded from the Union in 1861 and did not participate in the 1864 presidential election.

From 1876 to 1964, North Carolina predominantly voted for Democratic candidates. However, beginning in 1968, the state shifted to favoring Republican candidates, a change influenced by many white conservative voters' dissatisfactions with civil rights legislation.

The trend changed in 2008 when Barack Obama won North Carolina over John McCain by about 14,000 votes out of 4.3 million, making it the second-closest race that year after Missouri.

In 2012, North Carolina was again highly competitive, but Mitt Romney won the state by about 2% over Obama. Donald Trump won North Carolina in both 2016 and 2020, defeating Hillary Clinton by 3.6% in 2016 and Joe Biden by 1.3% in 2020.

Following the 2020 Census, North Carolina gained an additional electoral vote, making it tied with Georgia as the 8th largest electoral prize in the country.