The 1992 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Governor James G. Martin was unable to run for a third consecutive term due to term limits, and his Lieutenant Governor, Jim Gardner, was chosen to replace him as the Republican nominee. Gardner had also been the nominee in a previous gubernatorial election twenty four years earlier. Former Governor Jim Hunt decided to seek his third term as the Democratic nominee. The race became one of the nastiest and most talked about races in the country, with Hunt winning a third term easily over Gardner and Libertarian nominee Scott McLaughlin.
Republican primary Candidates Gary M. Dunn Jim Gardner, lieutenant governor of North Carolina and former U.S. representative from Rocky Mount Ruby Hooper, former deputy secretary of the North Carolina Department of Human Resources and candidate for governor in 1984
Results
Democratic primary Candidates Jim Hunt, former governor of North Carolina Lacy Thornburg, North Carolina attorney general and former state representative Marcus W. Williams
Results
General election
Candidates
Jim Gardner, lieutenant governor of North Carolina and former U.S. representative from Rocky Mount (Republican) Jim Hunt, former governor of North Carolina (Democratic) Scott McLaughlin (Libertarian)
Results
Footnotes