Elections were held in North Carolina on November 8, 2016, to select the ten officers of the North Carolina Council of State. This elections coincided with the presidential election, elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the Senate and state elections to the General Assembly and judiciary. Primary elections were held March 15.
The ten members of the North Carolina Council of State are statewide-elected officers serving four-year terms. The pre-election partisan makeup of the Council of State consisted of 6 Democrats and 4 Republicans. After the election, the partisan makeup was reversed, with 6 Republicans and 4 Democrats winning. Three incumbents were defeated: Governor Pat McCrory (R), Superintendent of Public Education June Atkinson (D), and Commissioner of Insurance Wayne Goodwin (D).
Additionally, Republicans flipped the Treasurer in an open race from the Democrats, while Democrats held the open Attorney General race.
Republican Pat McCrory, the incumbent, faced Democratic nominee Roy Cooper, the incumbent North Carolina attorney general, and Libertarian nominee Lon Cecil in the general election. Cooper won with 49% of the vote.
Republican Dan Forest, the incumbent, faced Democratic nominee Linda Coleman, a former director of the Office of State Personnel, former state representative and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2012, and Libertarian nominee Jacki Cole in the general election. Forest won with more than 51% of the vote.
Democrat Roy Cooper, the incumbent, ran for governor.
Josh Stein, state senator and former deputy attorney general of North Carolina, was the Democratic nominee for the post, and Buck Newton, another state senator, was the Republican nominee. Stein won with just over 50% of the vote.
Democrat Elaine Marshall, the incumbent, ran for a sixth term.
Democrat Beth Wood, the incumbent, ran for reelection to a third term.
Stuber called for a recount even before the election results were officially certified, and it seemed likely that the margin of difference between the candidates would remain well under the 10,000-vote threshold that a recount requires. But as the recount neared completion and the outcome remained the same, Stuber conceded the election on Dec. 9.
Janet Cowell, a Democrat and the incumbent Treasurer, announced she would not run for reelection.
Folwell became the first North Carolina State Treasurer elected from a party other than the Democratic Party since William H. Worth, a Populist, was elected in 1896.
Democrat June Atkinson, the incumbent, ran for a fourth term in 2016. When it was believed that Atkinson was not going to run for re-election, State Rep. Tricia Cotham was considered a potential Democratic candidate.
Johnson became the first Republican (or member of any party other than the Democratic Party) elected Superintendent since 1896, when Charles H. Mebane was elected.
Republican Steve Troxler, the incumbent, ran for a fourth term.
Steve Troxler received more votes than any other candidate in North Carolina in 2016. As of 2021, this is the last statewide election in which the Republican candidate won Wake County and Chatham County.
Republican Cherie Berry, the incumbent, ran for reelection to a fifth term.
Democrat Wayne Goodwin, the incumbent, ran for re-election to a third term in 2016.
Causey became the first Republican ever elected to the office of North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance.