Governor's Race Undecided in Otherwise Big GOP Night | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This post was created by the staff of the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Trump, Burr win state; Democrat Cooper holds slim lead with thousands of ballots uncounted

    A stunning election night ended with several election races - including the contest for governor - unresolved, even as Republicans Donald Trump and Richard Burr scored significant victories and the GOP retained its supermajority status in the General Assembly.

    In the race for governor, Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper claimed victory just before 1 a.m. Wednesday, though he led incumbent Republican Pat McCrory by roughly 4,300 votes of more than 4.7 million ballots cast - 49 percent to 48.9 percent - with thousands of absentee and provisional ballots yet to be counted. McCrory earlier said he would work to make sure "every vote counted," anticipating the race would not be decided until Nov. 18, when ballots are canvassed in each county and verified.

    A rematch of the 2012 battle for lieutenant governor, in which Republican Dan Forest defeated Democrat Linda Coleman by 7,000 votes, was not much of a contest. Forest won a second term, 52 percent to 45 percent.


Gov. Pat McCrory, with his wife Ann by his side, tells supporters early Wednesday morning that the governor's race against Democrat Roy Cooper would not be decided until all ballots were canvassed on Nov. 18. (CJ photo by Don Carrington)

    In the presidential race, Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by a 49.9 percent to 46.1 percent margin, winning the state's 15 electoral votes and helping the New York businessman to an improbable victory, becoming the 45th president-elect.

    Burr, a two-term incumbent U.S. senator who confirmed at a victory speech in Winston-Salem this would be his final election campaign, defeated Democratic former state representative Deborah Ross, 51 percent to 45 percent, in a race that Ross led in polling as recently as early October.

    The state's congressional delegation will retain its partisan split of 10 Republicans and three Democrats. Republicans won two open races, with 13th District incumbent Rep. George Holding winning the open 2nd District race over John McNeil, 57-43, and Chatham County Republican business owner Ted Budd defeating Democrat Bruce Davis 56-44.


At the Republican victory party in Raleigh, supporters cheer the moment North Carolina was called for Donald Trump in the presidential race. (CJ photo by Don Carrington)

    Council of State

    Democrats also appeared to lose as many as three Council of State seats, depending on the outcome of the final vote canvas. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin was losing to Republican Mike Causey by 40,000 votes, and Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson trailed Republican Mark Johnson by 56,000 votes. In the open race for state treasurer, Republican former state legislator Dale Folwell defeated Democrat Dan Blue III by a 53-47 margin.

    In the contest to succeed Cooper, Wake County Democrat Josh Stein over Republican Buck Newton by 20,000 votes.

    Incumbent Republicans Steve Troxler and Cherie Berry won new terms for agriculture commissioner and commissioner of labor, respectively. Incumbent Democrat Elaine Marshall easily won a sixth term as secretary of state, while incumbent state Auditor Beth Wood, a Democrat, was holding a slim 2,500-vote lead over Republican challenger Chuck Stuber.


House Speaker Tim Moore, at left, and Senate leader Phil Berger on Tuesday celebrate a successful night for Republicans in General Assembly races. (CJ photo by Don Carrington)

    GOP maintains veto-proof majority in NCGA

    Republicans maintained their veto-proof majorities in both the state Senate and House, gaining a seat in the Senate while losing one in the House. If the results stand, the 2017-18 session of the General Assembly will see Republicans holding 35 of the 50 Senate seats and 74 of the 120 House seats.

    In the Senate, Republican challenger J.R. Britt easily defeated incumbent Democrat Jane Smith in District 13, 55 percent to 45 percent. In other closely watched races, incumbent Republicans eked out wins in Wake County Districts 15 (John Alexander) and 17 (Tamara Barringer). GOP Sens. Chad Barefoot (District 18), Wesley Meredith (District 19), and Trudy Wade (District 27) won difficult re-election bids with relative comfort. No other incumbents were defeated and no open seats changed party affiliations.

    The GOP lost two House seats in both of the state's most populous counties, Wake and Mecklenburg. In Wake County, Democrat Joe John defeated incumbent Republican Marilyn Avila in District 40 by slightly more than 300 votes, 50.4 percent to 49.6 percent; and in District 49, Democrat Cynthia Ball bested incumbent Rep. Gary Pendleton 48.7 percent to 47.2 percent (with Libertarian Gary Ulmer receiving 4.1 percent).

    In Mecklenburg County, Democrats won District 88, in which Mary Belk defeated incumbent Republican Rob Bryan by 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent; and District 92, where Democrat Chaz Beazley defeated Republican Beth Danae Caulfield, 55 percent to 45 percent in the seat vacated by retiring incumbent Republican Charles Jeter.

    Those losses were offset by pickups in districts that spanned the state. In the northeastern corner of the state's House District 6, Republican Beverly Boswell narrowly defeated Democrat Tess Judge (appointed by local Democrats to take the place on the ballot of her husband Warren Judge, who died Sunday) by a 51.5-48.5 percent margin. The district was represented by Democrat-turned-Unaffiliated Rep. Paul Tine, who chose not to seek another term. Boswell's win gave Republicans control of a seat Tine had won for Democrats in 2014.

    The GOP flipped three other seats. In House District 46 (Bladen, Columbus, and Robeson counties), Republican Brenden Jones beat Democrat Tim Benton, 60-36, in the race to replace Democratic incumbent Ken Waddell. In House District 51 (Harnett and Lee counties), former GOP state Rep. John Sauls defeated Democratic incumbent Brad Salmon, 56-44. And in District 119 in the southwestern mountain counties, Republican Mike Clampitt defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Joe Sam Queen by roughly 300 votes.

    Republicans lose Supreme Court, sweep Appeals Court races

    Republicans suffered a setback on the state Supreme Court, as incumbent Justice Bob Edmunds lost to Democratic Superior Court Judge Mike Morgan by 9 points in a nominally nonpartisan contest. With Morgan's victory, the Supreme Court will have a 4-3 liberal/Democratic majority.

    The five races for seats on the state Court of Appeals - where candidates listed their partisan affiliations - were a different story, as Republicans won them all. GOP incumbent judges Richard Dietz, Bob Hunter, and Valerie Zachary defended their seats, while Republican Phil Berger Jr. narrowly defeated incumbent Judge Linda Stephens by 26,000 votes. In the open seat held by retiring Judge Linda Geer, Republican Hunter Murphy defeated Democrat Margaret Eagles and unaffiliated candidate Donald Buie.

    Click here for election results.