secret negotiations, lawmakers should simply repeal HB 2 and send a message that North Carolina is open for business." The United States Department of Justice, in addition to several private citizens, filed lawsuits against McCrory and the state challenging HB2. The Justice Department said that North Carolina was in violation of federal civil rights laws. Separately, McCrory filed suit against the federal government, asking a court to find the state law constitutional. After McCrory was defeated in his 2016 bid for re-election, legislators repealed HB2 and passed a replacement on March 30, 2017. The repeal legislation passed the House 70-48 and the Senate by a 32-16 vote. Gov. Roy Cooper signed the repeal bill later that day, though he said the new law was "not a perfect deal and it's not my preferred solution. It stops short of many things we need to do as a state." Some repeal advocates opposed the compromise because of provisions they contended would still permit discrimination, specifically a three-year ban on passage of new local nondiscrimination ordinances, a provision that ended in December 2020. Approval ratings According to polling by the Civitas Institute, McCrory's approval rating during his first year in office fell 15 percentage points to 49% between June and July 2013. A second poll conducted in July 2013 indicated that the governor's approval rating had fallen to 40%, down from 45% in June. The same poll indicated that only 35% of voters approved of the Republican-led state government. At the start of April 2015, the Public Policy Polling firm found McCrory to have an approval rating of 36% and a disapproval rating of 45%. Towards the end of his term in office, in September 2016, a poll commissioned by Bloomberg Politics reported 49% of North Carolinians approving of his job performance, and 44% disapproved. 2022 U.S. Senate election In 2022, McCrory ran for the Republican nomination in the U.S. Senate election to succeed the retiring Republican Richard Burr. During the campaign, McCrory mentioned "I was a huge defender -- and continue to be a huge defender -- of Trump policies." McCrory objected to Trump's efforts to overturn the election, acknowledging that Joe Biden had won the election. McCrory accused Trump of "destroying democracy." Trump endorsed U.S. Representative Ted Budd in the Republican primary for Senate. McCrory subsequently lost the primary. Electoral history References External links Campaign website |- |- |- |- 1956