Dave Boliek (R) won the Republican primary runoff for North Carolina State Auditor on May 14, 2024. Boliek defeated Jack Clark (R) 53.1% to 46.9%. Clark and Boliek were the top two finishers in the March 5 Republican primary with 23.2% and 22.1% of the vote, respectively. State law permitted Boliek to request a runoff because Clark did not receive more than 30% of the vote.

Boliek was, at the time of the election, an attorney and member of the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Board of Trustees. Boliek said his experience managing the university’s investments and as a prosecuting attorney made him the best-qualified candidate. Boliek said the auditor’s core responsibilities included “leading a highly effective team to accomplish work on behalf of the taxpayers” and “implementing a strategic plan to achieve accountability for the spending of taxpayer dollars.”

Clark was, at the time of the election, a staffer working on budget policy in the General Assembly. Clark was a former auditor in the private sector. Clark said he was the most qualified candidate because he was “the only candidate with a Masters in Accounting, a CPA, and recent audit experience.” Clark said the auditor’s core responsibility was “to find the objective truth. Whoever is elected to this office must provide the proper ‘tone at the top’ to inspire the auditors working under them to approach every audit with the right mindset.”

Boliek will face incumbent Jessica Holmes (D) and Bob Drach (L) in the general election. The last Republican elected as North Carolina Auditor was Leslie Merritt (R) in 2004.