CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina Sen. Rachel Hunt, the daughter of former Gov. Jim Hunt, has won the election to be the state's next lieutenant governor, NBC News projects.
Hunt defeated Republican challenger Hal Weatherman by just under 2%, according to state election data with 100% of precincts reporting. The office is currently held by Mark Robinson, who unsuccessfully ran for governor, losing to Democrat Josh Stein.
Hal Weatherman
Hal Weatherman won the Republican primary for the contest. He served as chief of staff to former North Carolina Lt. Governor Dan Forest and former US Representative Sue Myrick. He has not held prior public office.
He is the founder of the Electoral Education Foundation, a 501-c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing election integrity efforts in North Carolina. He has degrees in religion and communications from Wake Forest University and Wheaton College, respectively.
Rachel Hunt
Democrat Rachel Hunt is currently a state senator representing parts of southern Mecklenburg County. She won that seat in 2022 by only 347 votes against Republican Cheryl Russo. Hunt sits on the committees for Agriculture, Energy and Environment; Appropriations on General Government and Information Technology; Judiciary; and Pensions and Retirement and Aging.
In 2019, Hunt beat Republican Bill Brawley to win North Carolina's House District 103 by just 68 votes.
She has a degree in English and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a juris doctorate from the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law and a certificate in college counseling and education from UCLA.
Shannon Bray
Shannon Bray represents the Libertarian Party in the race. He had run as a Libertarian in the primary election for governor but switched to the primary election for lieutenant governor.
He has not held prior elected office. He describes himself as a technology entrepreneur. He has a master of science in cybersecurity from the University of Delaware, a bachelor of science in information technology from Colorado State University Global Campus and an associate of science and associate of art in history from Arapahoe Community College.
Wayne Jones represents the Constitutional Party and has not held prior office. Jones does not appear to have an official campaign website or social media presence.
Compare the candidates
The Charlotte Journalism Collaborative has compiled an Election Guide where you can see individual races separated by groups. Each area includes the candidates and then when you select that group, you will see topics. You can click on an individual candidate and "compare" them to see a side-by-side view of that particular issue among the competing candidates. There is also a dropdown menu with "Other Topics" or "Other Candidates."
WCNC Charlotte will have live election coverage of all the local and statewide elections starting at 7 p.m. on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5 on streaming on WCNC+, and all election results can be found by texting the word ELECTION to 704-329-3600 or going to WCNC Charlotte's election page.