The NCGOP is weighing a plan to endorse in primaries
New draft plan would let party organizations oppose candidates with serious problems — in limited circumstances
For years, the North Carolina Republican Party has operated under a strict rule: No endorsements in primaries.
It wasn’t just tradition—it was written into the party’s governing document. The current party constitution says Republican officers and committees “shall refrain” from using their positions to influence GOP primaries. Endorsements were explicitly prohibited.
Now that might be about to change.
A committee led by Union County’s Dan Barry has spent more than a year working on a comprehensive rewrite of the NCGOP’s Plan of Organization. A new draft was just published yesterday. Party members are still weighing in, and it would need to be voted on at the state convention before going into effect.
It’s a major cleanup—more transparency, clearer roles, and better-defined rules across the board.
But the biggest shift is this: Party organizations at every level could vote to endorse in Republican primaries—but only in narrow, well-defined situations.
Specifically, party committees could vote to endorse against candidates with major problems. The draft defines two types:
• Opportunists: Candidates who switched their party affiliation after January 31 of the year before the election—usually to game the system.
• Dishonorable candidates: Those whose conduct brings “reproach, shame, or disgrace” to the party. That could mean criminal behavior, public scandals, or attacks on fellow Republicans that cross the line.
