Trump thereby became the fourth-ever Republican to carry North Carolina without winning the presidency, after George H. W. Bush in 1992, Bob Dole in 1996, and Mitt Romney in 2012.

Similarly, prediction websites Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, The Economist, and ABC News all had Biden favored in the state.

Presidential preference primaries were held on March 3, 2020 (first cases of COVID-19), for each of the political parties with state ballot access.

Despite speculation that he might seek the Democratic nomination, Roy Cooper, the Governor of North Carolina, declined to run.

[5][6] The North Carolina Republican Party submitted to the state only the name of incumbent President Donald Trump to be listed on the primary ballot.

The campaign of Bill Weld "has written to the [state Board of Elections] asking to be added to the ballot, arguing that his candidacy meets the legal test because he’s received 'widespread news coverage,' raised more than $1.2 million, and has qualified for the primary ballot in six other states," according to the News and Observer.

Biden carried eight of North Carolina's ten largest counties (losing only the Charlotte-area suburban counties of Union and Gaston), and overperformed Obama's 2008 margin in the six largest: Wake (Raleigh), Mecklenburg (Charlotte), Guilford (Greensboro), Forsyth (Winston-Salem), Durham (Durham), and Buncombe (Asheville), in which he received 62%, 67%, 61%, 56%, 80%, and 60% of the vote, respectively.