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Written by Lucas Thomae and Frank Taylor, Carolina Public Press

North Carolina voters were sharply divided by some contests in 2024, but governor wasn’t one of them as Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, scored a clear victory over Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican.

Despite many precincts awaiting to report Tuesday night, Stein held a commanding lead and Robinson conceded around 9 p.m. Polls leading up to Election Day consistently had shown him with a strong advantage.

The much-watched presidential contest was much closer in early vote counting, but former President Donald Trump gradually built an insurmountable lead in North Carolina over Vice President Kamala Harris. It would be the first of several battleground states to go Trump’s way, paving the way for his return to the White House.

With Trump leading by more than 150,000 votes in the North Carolilna and more than 90% of the precincts counted, several major organizations called the state for Trump. At that time the national contest similarly remained too close to call, with North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes – the most in state history – potentially one of the biggest prizes sought by both sides.

But soon other must-win states for Harris went Trump’s way. News organizations called Georgia for Trump around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, once it became clear that Trump’s edge there could not be overcome based on the number of remaining ballots.

The likely death knell for Harris’ election hopes came around 2:15 a.m. when Pennsylvania was called for Trump.

The former president also held narrow to modest lead in voting counting in each of the remaining battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada as counting continued in those states.

Stein’s big victory

Stein took to the stage shortly after 9 p.m. to deliver his victory speech in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Marriott hotel in downtown Raleigh.

“We chose hope over hate, competence over chaos, decency over division,” Stein said. “That’s who we are as North Carolinians, and I am so honored that you elected me to be your next governor.”

Stein’s campaign was effective throughout 2024 in painting Robinson as extreme and corrupt, while Robinson’s team struggled to land any effective punches against the Democrat.

Scandals, including an ongoing investigation into Robinson’s past campaign finances, did not prevent him from beating outgoing State Treasurer Dale Folwell in the GOP primary in March. But Robinson failed to gain traction with general election voters.

Additional concerns about his past campaign activities came to light when CPP reported in August on claims that he had never spent any money with a kayak shop that appeared on his campaign reports.

Then the bottom fell out in late September as reporting by The Assembly and national news organizations unveiled a past pattern of Robinson patronizing adult sites and making both lewd and extremist comments, including claiming in post that he was a “Black Nazi.”

Robinson denied that the posts were his despite clear evidence that they came from his accounts, years before he was a political figure.

Even as some Republicans said he should get the benefit of the doubt, others distanced themselves from the lieutenant governor’s disintegrating political career. Although Trump did not address Robinson’s problems directly, the lieutenant governor was no longer welcome at Trump’s many North Carolina events.

Gov. Roy Cooper issued congratulations to Stein, his close political ally, crediting North Carolina voters for their decision. “Every election gives us choices,” Cooper said. “And there’s never been a wider gulch between these two choices.”

In a concession of the race to Stein around 9 p.m., Robinson said, “I’m not sad one lick. But I am disappointed.”

Council of State and other statewide races

Just as North Carolina voters split on the gubernatorial and presidential races, the council of state races appeared to split between the parties based on unofficial Election Night results.

Democrat Rachel Hunt led Republican Hal Weatherman in the race for lieutenant governor by more than 86,000 votes statewide.

Democrat Jeff Jackson led Republican Dan Bishop in the race for attorney general by more than 130,000 votes.

Republican Dan Boliek led Democrat Jessica Holmes by more than 110,000 votes in the race for state auditor.

Republican Steve Troxler led Democrat Sarah Taber by more than 430,000 votes in the race for agriculture secretary.

Republican Mike Causey led Natasha Marcus by nearly 250,000 votes in the race for insurance secretary.

Republican Luke Farley led Democrat Braxton Winston II by more than 310,000 votes in the race for commissioner of labor.

Democrat Elaine Marshall led Republican Chad Brown in the race for secretary of state by more than 90,000 votes.

Democrat Mo Green led Republican Michelle Morrow by more than 110,000 votes for superintendent of public instruction.

Republican Brad Briner led Democrat Wesley Harris by nearly 270,000 votes for state treasurer.

In judicial races, Supreme Court races in North Carolina have sometimes been extremely close, and Tuesday was no exception.

As of 1:30 a.m., Democrat Allison Rigg led Republican Jefferson Griffin by just over 1,000 votes, but as more ballots were counted through the morning Griffin took a narrow lead by less than a thousand votes. Whatever the result from ballots counted on Election Day, the counting of additional ballots during the canvassing process next week could potentially change the outcome of a race this close.

Regardless, if the current margins hold up, the race contest could be subject to a recount. This occurred during a similarly close Supreme Court race in 2020.

Republicans appeared headed for victory in three state court of appeals races.

North Carolina voters also decided on a state constitutional amendment to ban noncitizen voting. While such voting is already illegal, the measure would prevent local governments from allowing noncitizen voting in their elections. The amendment passed with about 77% of the vote.

While control of the General Assembly comes down to individual races, both parties appeared to have key achievements in the election. Republicans appeared to pad their edge in the state Senate, picking up two seats to give them a likely 31-19 edge. In the state House, Democrats appeared to pick up one seat, which would eliminate the current veto-proof supermajority for Republicans there.

National outlook

As of 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Trump appeared well on his way to a return to the presidency.

He will have the support of a newly Republican U.S. Senate, though not by enough margin to stop a Democratic filibuster. No North Carolina Senate seats were on the ballot in 2024.

Control of the U.S. House remained very much in doubt in the early hours of Wednesday, but a redrawn North Carolina congressional map helped turn several seats in favor of Republicans, who hoped to hold onto and add to their current edge.

Editor’s note: Carolina Public Press staff members Lucas Thomae and Frank Taylor contributed to this report. This is a developing story and will be updated.