Libertarian candidates played a consequential role in altering the outcomes of several key races in North Carolina’s election, including the races for lieutenant governor, state auditor, Congressional District 1, and the Republican fight to keep a supermajority in the General Assembly.
While Libertarian candidates didn’t win any major contests, some Libertarian candidates received more votes than the difference between the Democratic and Republican candidates. Libertarians, who believe in limited government similar to conservative principles, may have pulled votes from Republicans, influencing North Carolina’s political landscape in close elections.
In the Lt. Governor’s race, Democrat Rachel Hunt won by about 96,000 votes, while the Libertarian candidate garnered 103,000 votes—more than enough to have changed the result if those voters aligned more with the Republican candidate. In the race for State Auditor, Republican victor Dave Boliek edged out the Democrat by about 104,000 votes, with the Libertarian drawing over 165,000 votes, a significant factor in the outcome.
Similarly, in the state’s only toss-up seat in District 1 for the US House of Representatives, Democrat Rep. Don Davis retained his seat against the Republican challenger by just 5,839 votes, while the Libertarian candidate in the race acquired 9,852 votes.
“The LPNC is obviously extremely happy with the influence we had in the races around our beautiful state of North Carolina, though we are far from content,” said Rob Yates, Communication Director for the Libertarian Party of North Carolina (LPNC). “They say North Carolina is a purple state but we’re also a state that will vote for Libertarians. Many races this cycle were very close and it was because of a Libertarian in the race. The people are showing how they’re not happy with how the GOP NCGA supermajority has been governing. We were able to influence these races with Libertarians running on Libertarian ideals.”
In particular, Yates pointed to the House District 32 race, in which Democrat Bryan Cohn beat Republican incumbent Frank Sossamon by 182 votes. A sting to House Republicans, LPNC Chair Ryan Brown garnered 1,128 votes in the race, enough to alter the victory and ultimately prevent the General Assembly from retaining a veto-proof Republican supermajority.
“I just don’t know if there’s a need for us to delve into additional issues dealing with guns and people’s Second Amendment rights.” – Berger.@NCGOP made promises and then decided to ration rights back to the citizens. People responded by voting for @LPNC candidates.#ncpol pic.twitter.com/ColFjojuMJ
— Ryan Brown (@RyanBrownNC) November 9, 2024
“In this race, the NCGOP was not helping itself, rationing rights that overlapped with Ryan’s favorite hobby: gun rights,” explained Yates. “The NCGOP leadership didn’t feel the need to address ongoing wrongs when it came to gun rights. There were other issues, like Certificate of Need Laws and occupational licensing laws, on which Ryan had run his campaign that the NC GOP had ignored. The NC GOP have only themselves to blame if they’re unable to keep their supermajority.”
Following the election, Republican leaders said they were still waiting on some results due to the tight margins in House District 32 in Graham and Vance Counties.
In other local races, the influence of Libertarian voters was even more pronounced. In Senate District 18, the Republican won by just 38 votes, while Libertarian Brad Hessel pulled in 3,848 votes. In House District 25, the Republican candidate’s margin was only 526 votes, yet the Libertarian garnered 1,617 votes, again far exceeding the margin of victory.
Both districts promise to be nail-biters again in 2026, which could give the LPNC leverage in working on its priorities with the General Assembly. LPNC officials say representatives of both parties in power have contacted them since the election and expressed interest in talking with them in the future.
“Until both parties at least operate in good faith and stick to their principles, they can expect to have races change because of votes for Libertarians and for candidates from all the third parties in North Carolina,” Yates added. “Our principles are not for sale, but we are happy to sit down and listen, in good faith, with anyone who wants to work with us on specific issues to advance Liberty.”