The 2004 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2004. The general election was between the Democratic incumbent Mike Easley and the Republican nominee Patrick J. Ballantine. Easley won by 56% to 43%, winning his second term as governor.

Primaries

Democratic

Mike Easley was first elected as governor in 2000 and opted to run for a second term. He faced opposition in the Democratic primary from Rickey Kipfer, a former corporate manager from Lee County. Kipfer campaigned on a platform of abolishing North Carolina's personal income tax and exploring potential natural gas resources in the state. He envisioned the state replacing income tax revenue with revenue from natural gas exploration. Kipfer also proposed a system similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund as a means of distributing potential natural gas revenues to citizens in North Carolina. Easley's campaign manager stated that they did not consider Kipfer as serious competition. Easley did not campaign against Kipfer. Mike Easley won the primary comfortably with over 85% of the vote.

Candidates

Declared

Results

Republican

Candidates

Declared

Withdrawn

Declined

Results

[[File:2004 North Carolina gubernatorial Republican primary county map.svg|thumb|300px|Primary results by county: Ballantine {{legend|#400202|Ballantine—81-90%}} {{legend|#6d0404|Ballantine—71-80%}} {{legend|#a70808|Ballantine—61-70%}} {{legend|#d60f0f|Ballantine—51-60%}} {{legend|#ff0000|Ballantine—41-50%}} {{legend|#f29b8a|Ballantine—31-40%}} {{legend|#f8dbd5|Ballantine—21-30%}} Vinroot {{legend|#f2f26c|Vinroot—41-50%}} {{legend|#f2f2a0|Vinroot—31-40%}} {{legend|#f8f8cc|Vinroot—21-30%}} Cobey {{legend|#006400|Cobey—51-60%}} {{legend|#59d622|Cobey—41-50%}} {{legend|#90ee90|Cobey—31-40%}} Barrett {{legend|#154bef|Barrett—51-60%}} {{legend|#a1ffff|Barrett—21-30%}} Shubert {{legend|#e97c11|Shubert—31-40%}} Little {{legend|#af00ee|Little—51-60%}} ]]

General election

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican