The 2012 North Carolina State Senate elections selected members to serve in the North Carolina Senate for a two-year term commencing in January 2013. Going into the election, the Senate had 31 Republican and 19 Democratic members, which constituted a two-thirds super-majority for the Republican Party. Following the election, the Senate had 33 Republican and 17 Democratic members.
Results summary DistrictIncumbent PartyElectedParty 1st Stan White Dem Bill Cook Rep 2nd Jean Preston† Rep Norman W. Sanderson Rep 3rd Clark Jenkins Dem Clark Jenkins Dem 4th Edward Jones Dem Edward Jones Dem 5th New seat Don Davis Dem 6th Harry Brown Rep Harry Brown Rep 7th Louis M. Pate Jr. Rep Louis M. Pate Jr. Rep 8th Bill Rabon Rep Bill Rabon Rep 9th Thom Goolsby Rep Thom Goolsby Rep 10th Brent Jackson Rep Brent Jackson Rep 11th Buck Newton Rep Buck Newton Rep 12th David Rouzer† Rep Ronald Rabin Rep 13th Michael Walters Dem Michael Walters Dem 14th Dan Blue Dem Dan Blue Dem 15th Neal Hunt Rep Neal Hunt Rep 16th Josh Stein Dem Josh Stein Dem 17th Tamara P. Barringer Rep Tamara P. Barringer Rep 18th Doug Berger Dem Chad Barefoot Rep 19th Wesley Meredith Rep Wesley Meredith Rep 20th Floyd McKissick Jr. Dem Floyd McKissick Jr. Dem 21st Eric Mansfield† Dem Ben Clark Dem 22nd New seat Mike Woodard Dem 23rd Eleanor Kinnaird Dem Eleanor Kinnaird Dem Bob Atwater† Dem 24th Rick Gunn Rep Rick Gunn Rep 25th William R. Purcell† Dem Gene McLaurin Dem 26th Phil Berger Rep Phil Berger Rep 27th Don Vaughan† Dem Trudy Wade Rep 28th Gladys A. Robinson Dem Gladys A. Robinson Dem 29th Jerry W. Tillman Rep Jerry W. Tillman Rep Harris Blake† Rep 30th Don W. East Rep Don W. East Rep 31st Pete Brunstetter Rep Pete Brunstetter Rep 32nd Linda Garrou† Dem Earline Parmon Dem 33rd Stan Bingham Rep Stan Bingham Rep 34th Andrew C. Brock Rep Andrew C. Brock Rep 35th Tommy Tucker Rep Tommy Tucker Rep 36th Fletcher L. Hartsell Jr. Rep Fletcher L. Hartsell Jr. Rep 37th Dan Clodfelter Dem Dan Clodfelter Dem 38th Charlie Dannelly† Dem Joel Ford Dem 39th Bob Rucho Rep Bob Rucho Rep 40th Malcolm Graham Dem Malcolm Graham Dem 41st New seat Jeff Tarte Rep 42nd Austin M. Allran Rep Austin M. Allran Rep 43rd Kathy Harrington Rep Kathy Harrington Rep 44th Chris Carney Rep David L. Curtis Rep 45th Dan Soucek Rep Dan Soucek Rep 46th Warren Daniel Rep Warren Daniel Rep Wes Westmoreland† Rep 47th Ralph Hise Rep Ralph Hise Rep 48th Tom Apodaca Rep Tom Apodaca Rep 49th Martin Nesbitt Dem Martin Nesbitt Dem 50th Jim Davis Rep Jim Davis Rep † - Incumbent not seeking re-election
Incumbents defeated in primary election Chris Carney (R-District 44), defeated by David L. Curtis (R)
Incumbents defeated in general election Stan White (D-District 1), defeated by Bill Cook (R) Doug Berger (D-District 18), defeated by Chad Barefoot (R)
Open seats that changed parties Don Vaughan (D-District 27) did not seek re-election, seat won by Trudy Wade (R)
Newly created seats District 5, won by Don Davis (D) District 22, won by Mike Woodard (D) District 41, won by Jeff Tarte (R)
Seats eliminated by redistricting Bob Atwater (D-District 18) did not seek re-election after his seat was merged with 23rd district Harris Blake (R-District 22) did not seek re-election after his seat was merged with the 29th district Wes Westmoreland (R-District 46) did not seek re-election after his seat was merged with the 44th district
Predictions SourceRankingAs of Governing | October 24, 2012
Detailed results
Districts 1–25
District 1 Incumbent Democrat Stan M. White has represented the 1st district since 2011.
District 2 Incumbent Republican Jean Preston has represented the 2nd district since 2007. Preston did not seek re-election. Representative Norman W. Sanderson won the open seat.
District 3 Incumbent Democrat Clark Jenkins has represented the 3rd district since 2003.
District 4 Incumbent Democrat Edward Jones has represented the 4th district since 2007.
District 5 The 5th district is an open seat that includes Democratic leaning areas in Greene, Pitt, Lenoir, and Wayne counties. Democrat Don Davis who represented a different version of the 5th district from 2009 to 2011 won the open seat.
District 6 Incumbent Republican Majority Leader Harry Brown has represented the 6th district since 2004.
District 7 The new 7th district is the successor to the old 5th district, but it has been drawn to be more Republican leaning than its predecessor. It now includes mostly Republican leaning areas in Pitt, Lenoir, and Wayne counties. Incumbent Republican Louis M. Pate Jr., who has represented the 5th district since 2011, successfully sought re-election here.
District 8 Incumbent Republican Bill Rabon has represented the 8th district since 2011.
District 9 Incumbent Republican Thom Goolsby has represented the 9th district since 2011.
District 10 Incumbent Republican Brent Jackson has represented the 10th district since 2011.
District 11 Incumbent Republican Buck Newton has represented the 11th district since 2011.
District 12 The new 12th district is considerably different from its predecessor. Redistricting resulted in it losing its share of Wayne County and most of Johnston County, except for a small section in the western corner where Rouzer's home is located. The new district now includes all of Harnett and Lee counties. Incumbent Republican David Rouzer, who has represented the 12th district since 2009, did not seek re-election. Rouzer instead ran for U.S. House district 7. Republican Ronald Rabin won the open seat.
District 13 Incumbent Democrat Michael Walters has represented the 13th district since 2009. The new 13th district lost its share of Hoke County, but now includes Columbus County.
District 14 Incumbent Democrat Dan Blue has represented the 14th district since 2009.
District 15 Incumbent Republican Neal Hunt has represented the 15th district since 2005.
District 16 Incumbent Democrat Josh Stein has represented the 16th district since 2009.
District 17 Incumbent Republican Richard Y. Stevens has represented the 17th district since 2003. Stevens did not seek re-election.
District 18 The new 18th district is essentially a new district, including constituents in eastern Wake County and also includes all of Franklin County. Democrat Doug Berger, who has represented 7th district since 2005, had most of his constituents drawn into the 4th and 20th districts, but he sought re-election here where is home was located. The district was expected to favor Republicans and, as expected, Berger lost re-election to Republican opponent Chad Barefoot.
District 19 Incumbent Republican Wesley Meredith has represented the 19th district since 2011. The new 19th district lost its share of Bladen County and traded Democratic leaning areas with Republican leaning areas to the 21st district in Cumberland County. The gerrymandered district was designed to protect the incumbent Meredith.
District 20 Incumbent Democrat Floyd McKissick Jr. has represented the 20th district since 2007.
District 21 Incumbent Democrat Eric Mansfield has represented the 21st district since 2011. The new district was made heavily Democratic by gaining Hoke County and losing Republican leaning areas in Cumberland County to the 19th district. Mansfield did not seek re-election, instead he ran Lieutenant Governor. Democrat Ben Clark won the open seat.
District 22 The new 22nd district is a newly created constituency with no incumbent. The new district includes all of Caswell and Person counties as well as parts of Durham County, though most of the city of Durham remains in the heavily Democratic 20th district. Democrat Mike Woodard won the open seat.
District 23 The new 23rd district loses its share of Person County and gains Chatham County. Incumbent Democrats Eleanor Kinnaird, who has represented the 23rd district and its predecessors since 1997, and Bob Atwater, who has represented the 18th district since 2005, were both redistricted here. Atwater retired and Kinnaird ran for re-election.
District 24 Incumbent Republican Rick Gunn has represented the 24th district since 2011.
District 25 Incumbent Democrat William R. Purcell has represented the 25th district and its predecessors since 1997. Purcell did not seek re-election. Gene McLaurin won the open seat.
Districts 26–50
District 26 Incumbent Republican president pro tempore Phil Berger has represented the 26th district since and its predecessors since 2001.
District 27 The new 27th district is still based in Guilford County but has been drawn to be more Republican than its predecessor. Incumbent Republican Don Vaughan has represented the 27th district since 2009. Vaughan did not seek re-election.
District 28 Incumbent Democrat Gladys A. Robinson has represented the 28th district since 2011.
District 29 The new 29th district lost its share of Montgomery County and the eastern half of Randolph County. It gained all of Moore County. Incumbent Republicans Jerry W. Tillman, who has represented the 29th district since 2003, and Harris Blake, who has represented the 22nd district since 2003, were both redistricted here. Blake retired and Tillman was successfully re-elected here.
District 30 Incumbent Republican Don W. East has represented the 30th district since 2005. East died before the election, so all votes cast for him were given to Shirley B. Randleman, who took the seat at the beginning of the 2013–2014 session.
District 31 Incumbent Republican Pete Brunstetter has represented the 31st district since 2006.
District 32 Incumbent Democrat Linda Garrou has represented the 32nd district and its predecessors since 1999. Garrou did not seek re-election. Representative Earline Parmon won the open seat.
District 33 The new 33rd district gained Montgomery County. Incumbent Republican Stan Bingham has represented the 33rd district and its predecessors since 2001.
District 34 Incumbent Republican Andrew C. Brock has represented the 34th district since 2003.
District 35 Incumbent Republican Tommy Tucker has represented the 35th district since 2011.
District 36 Incumbent Republican Fletcher L. Hartsell Jr. has represented the 36th district and its predecessors since 1991.
District 37 Incumbent Democrat Dan Clodfelter has represented the 37th district and its predecessors since 1999.
District 38 Incumbent Democrat Charlie Dannelly has represented the 38th district and its predecessors since 1995. Dannelly initially ran for re-election but later withdrew. Democrat Joel Ford won the open seat.
District 39 Incumbent Republican Bob Rucho has represented the 39th district and its predecessors since 2008 and previously from 1997 to 2005.
District 40 Incumbent Democrat Malcolm Graham has represented the 40th district since 2005.
District 41 The new 41st district is based in Mecklenburg County and includes Republican leaning areas in the Northern and Southeastern sections of the county connected by a narrow strip of land that runs along the county's border with Cabarrus County. The district, which has now incumbent, is expected to favor Republicans. Republican Jeff Tarte won the open seat.
District 42 Incumbent Republican Austin M. Allran has represented the 42nd district and its predecessors since 1986.
District 43 Incumbent Republican Kathy Harrington has represented the 43rd district since 2011.
District 44 The new 44th district overlaps with much of the former 41st district represented by Republican Chris Carney since December 20, 2011. Carney sought re-election here but was defeated in the Republican primary by David L. Curtis. Curtis won the general election.
District 45 Incumbent Republican Dan Soucek has represented the 45th district since 2011.
District 46