Super Tuesday ended in an action-packed night in North Carolina, where voters weighed in on primaries for both president and downballot offices. There were many competitive contests farther down the ticket, but only one, the GOP primary in the open 11th Congressional District, will head to a runoff, which will be held on May 12.
North Carolina is one of several states that hold primary runoffs, though most require a candidate to take a majority of the vote in order to avert one. The Tar Heel State's threshold for avoiding one, however, is the lowest in the nation, at just 30%, which explains the paucity of runoffs there.
The state is unique in another way as well: It stands alone in making those runoffs optional at the discretion of the second-place finisher. Everywhere else, runoffs are mandatory, though there are often ways for unwilling candidates to wriggle out of them.
But there will be no escaping a second round of voting for businesswoman Lynda Bennett, who edged businessman Madison Cawthorn just 23-20 on Tuesday night. Unsurprisingly, given the close margin, Cawthorn will request a runoff, according to the Gaston Gazette. In November, whoever emerges with the GOP nod will be the favorite in this conservative district against Air Force veteran Moe Davis, who handily won the Democratic primary outright.
But this is only the latest notable example of North Carolina's runoff law coming into play in recent years. In last year's do-over special election in the 9th Congressional District, for instance, now-Rep. Dan Bishop’s top challenger in the Republican primary, Stony Rushing, said before the election that he would not request a runoff if he didn’t win the most votes. His announcement proved unnecessary, however, as Bishop secured 48% of the vote, more than enough to preclude a runoff.
The 2010 Senate race offers a converse illustration. That year, former state Sen. Cal Cunningham, who will be the Democrats' nominee for Senate this year, faced off against Secretary of State Elaine Marshall in the Democratic primary. Back then, candidates needed to take at least 40% of the vote to avoid a runoff (that figure was reduced in 2017), and since Marshall led 36-27, Cunningham was entitled to a second round faceoff. Cunningham did indeed request a runoff, but the better-known Marshall outpaced him once more, 60-40.
While North Carolina is the only jurisdiction where a runoff is explicitly dependent on a candidate’s request, other cities and states have laws on the books that allow runoffs to be circumvented. In New York City, for example, primary elections for mayor, comptroller, and public advocate require a runoff between the top-two vote getters if no candidate wins 40% of the vote. A runoff can be avoided, however, if one of the participants withdraws from the race within three days after the primary.
Prior to 2010, though, this provision didn't exist in state law, which is why New York City officials concluded that they were required to conduct a runoff in the 2005 Democratic primary for mayor—despite the fact that then-Rep. Anthony Weiner said he wouldn't participate in one. Ultimately, absentee ballots obviated the problem when they pushed Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer, who'd won 39.949% of the vote on election night, over the 40% mark. The prospect of a costly and pointless runoff in fact helped inspire a change in the law.
Several other states, such as Texas, likewise allow candidates to withdraw shortly after the primary, which is exactly what state Rep. Harvey Hilderbran did following the 2014 Republican primary for the state comptroller's office. That allowed state Sen. Glenn Hegar to avert a runoff even though his 49.996% fell just short of the majority required to win outright. In effect, laws such as these make it so a candidate can decline a runoff but not request one.
Some states, however, don't permit this kind of flexibility and insist on a runoff even if a particular candidate wrestles themself out of it. In Georgia, for example, even if a contender drops out after the primary, the runoff will occur as scheduled, but the next-highest vote-getter takes the withdrawn candidate’s place.
In general, though, it's rare to see a candidate eschew the chance to fight another day. While the candidate who leads in the first round usually wins in the second round, examples of the reverse abound. When he first ran for governor of Georgia in 2010, Nathan Deal trailed Karen Handel by double digits in the primary but came back to narrowly edge her out in the runoff. For the runners-up, hope will almost always spring eternal, just as it is doing for Madison Cawthorn.
