Under the Dome: Labor commissioner resigns, races called, possible recount looms
Good morning and welcome to the Under the Dome newsletter. I’m Emily Vespa.
North Carolina Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson resigned Wednesday. The Republican and former state House member will pursue work in the private sector, he said in his resignation letter.
Dobson led the state Department of Labor for nearly four years. North Carolinians on Tuesday elected Republican Luke Farley to assume the role in January. In the meantime, the governor is tasked with appointing a replacement, state law says.
COUNCIL OF STATE, COURT RACES CALLED
The Associated Press declared winners in several North Carolina races Wednesday that were previously too close to call.
Lieutenant Governor: Rachel Hunt flipped the office for Democrats after Republicans held the role for 12 years.
Secretary of State: Democrat Elaine Marshall was reelected to a role she’s held since 1997.
Auditor: Dave Boliek, a Republican, defeated Democratic incumbent Jessica Holmes.
N.C. Court of Appeals: Republican Tom Murry won the remaining seat.
Plus, in a closely watched congressional election, Republican Laurie Buckhout conceded to Democratic incumbent Don Davis, though the AP has not yet called the race.
VICTOR IN N.C. SUPREME COURT RACE STILL UNCERTAIN
The race for a seat on the state Supreme Court is extremely close and could be headed for a recount, Kyle Ingram reports. Republican Jefferson Griffin has a narrow lead of 9,800 votes over Democrat Allison Riggs, the incumbent.
The Riggs campaign said it was closely monitoring the final results as county boards add eligible absentee and provisional ballots to the count. Across the state, election officials will consider roughly 57,000 provisional ballots, according to data from the State Board of Elections.
NASH COUNTY AGAIN CORRECTLY PICKS PRESIDENT
Nash County elected former President Donald Trump Tuesday, marking the fourth consecutive election it elected the winning president. It’s the only county in the state to do so.
The county is mostly rural and Republican, with a Democratic stronghold in the city of Rocky Mount, The Charlotte Observer’s Nora O’Neill previously reported. This year, Trump won by a wider margin than the winners of the three previous presidential elections in the county.
WHAT ELSE WE’RE WORKING ON
The Observer’s Josh Bergeron and Ryan Oerhli joined our Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan, Avi Bajpai and Danielle Battaglia to break down North Carolina’s presidential, gubernatorial and attorney general election results in a bonus episode of our Under the Dome podcast recorded Wednesday morning. Listen here.
Some North Carolina survivors of Hurricanes Matthew and Florence in 2016 and 2018 are still waiting for housing aid. Now, the state program tasked with rebuilding homes after natural disasters will pause that aid due to low funding, Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi reports.
Johnston County voters reelected criminally indicted school board member Ronald Johnson, who is scheduled to stand trial next month on charges of extortion and felony obstruction of justice. T. Keung Hui has the details.
Today’s newsletter was by Emily Vespa. Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol.
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