In a Senate race that was never close, Roy Cooper beat Michael Whatley by 2,467,963 votes to 1,643,088, 58.72% to 39.09%, on the North Carolina State Board of Elections' unofficial feed with all 2,626 precincts reporting1.
The House races are where North Carolina's count stays open. Democrats lead in 10 of the state's 14 districts. Representative Richard Hudson, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), House Republicans' campaign arm, conceded the 9th District to Richard Ojeda before any AP call2. In the 5th, Chuck Hubbard leads Representative Virginia Foxx by 99 votes of 285,498. Two Republicans hold slim leads: Representative Greg Murphy by 233 votes over Raymond Smith in the 3rd, and Representative David Rouzer by 2,425 over Kimberly Hardy in the 7th.
All three races sit inside North Carolina's recount line. Under the State Board of Elections' rules as it explains them, the trailing House candidate can demand a recount if the official margin after the county canvass is 1% of the votes cast or less; the demand must reach the board by noon on Tuesday 17 November3. Provisional ballots, cast when a voter's eligibility needs checking, and the late mail ballots the board was already tracking in October join the count at the county canvass. State law sets that canvass for the tenth day after polling day, Friday 13 November4. In the 5th District those ballots alone could reverse a 99-vote gap.
The electorate that gave Cooper 58.72% also approved, on the same unofficial count, a photo ID requirement for voting with 59.6%, a 3.5% cap on the income tax rate with 61.92% and a property tax levy limit with 60.42%. Justice Anita Earls leads for her Supreme Court of North Carolina seat with 58.86%.
