Live updates: Cooper reelected, Trump and Tillis lead
What you need to know:
▪ Gov. Roy Cooper has won re-election over Lt. Gov. Dan Forest. The presidential and senate races remain too close to call, although Donald Trump and Thom Tillis both lead. Tillis claimed victory in a race the Associated Press had yet to call.
▪ Polls opened at 6:30 a.m. and closed at 7:30 p.m. Anyone who was in line at 7:30 p.m. was allowed to vote. North Carolina election results were delayed until 8:15 p.m. after some polling places opened late Tuesday morning.
▪ As of midnight, 5.5 million out of 7.4 million registered voters in North Carolina had cast ballots. The74.5% turnout was up from 69.0% in 2016. The State Board of Elections said 117,000 absentee ballots remained outstanding.
▪ Races being decided in addition to the presidential race between Republican President Trump and former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden include U.S. Senate, governor, attorney general, state executive branch offices, and seats in the legislature and U.S. House and on the N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals.
Early election results
President: Trump takes slight lead over Biden in tight race in NC with most votes counted.
Governor: Democrat Roy Cooper wins reelection over Republican Dan Forest
U.S. Senate: Republican incumbent Thom Tillis claims victory over Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham with narrow lead.
U.S. House: Deborah Ross wins 2nd District as Democrats pick up two seats.
N.C. legislature: Democrats’ hopes dim for NC legislative majority as incumbents fall short
Other races include:
Cooper’s second term focused on “healing”
While many statewide races remained very narrow and too close to call, the Associated Press called the governor’s race for incumbent Democrat Roy Cooper at 10:35 p.m., with a 51%-46% lead on Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and more than 89 percent of precincts reporting. The margin would end up at 267,524 votes, pending any late-arriving mail-in ballots.
Cooper accepted a second term in office with a message of unity, asking, “How do we come together, now?” and repeatedly using the words “heal” and “healing.”
“Here’s what I know: Campaign season is tough, especially this one, but North Carolinians are tougher,” Cooper said. “They know how to do their duty and vote, and then get on with their lives. And that’s good, because in order to move forward in the coming weeks we have a hard job ahead and we have to get on with it. We have to work harder than ever to understand each other’s perspective. To strive to respect each other, even though our political beliefs may still be different.”
Forest gave a concession speech shortly after Cooper’s remarks. Forest said he hadn’t yet been able to reach Cooper to congratulate him on the win, but mentioned Cooper’s more successful fundraising and his continuous appearances on TV “to talk about coronavirus” as a winning strategy.
Tillis claims victory with narrow lead
Speaking to supporters in Morrisville just before midnight, Sen. Thom Tilllis claimed victory over Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham, although independent outlets had yet to declare a winner.
“With six more years in the U.S. Senate,” Tillis said, “I will work tirelessly to ensure that we continue to provide opportunities and continue to fulfill promises and continue to make this nation and the state as great as it can be.”
With all precincts reporting but some mail-in absentee ballots still unaccounted for, Tillis held a 96,707-vote edge on Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham, who saw a persistent 1-point lead in polling turn to a 48.7%-46.9% Tillis edge. Tillis said he had not spoken to Cunningham, who has not yet conceded. Cunningham did not speak at the virtual NC Democrats election event.
Ross wins 2nd District
Deborah Ross was declared the winner of the 2nd District congressional race, one of two house seats Democrats expected to gain thanks to redistricting. Ross ended up with 63.0% of the vote, with Republican challenger Alan Swain at 34.8%.
“We can work together and get things back on track with a new sense of leadership in Washington, D.C.,” Ross said. “This can be bipartisan. It’s been done before. People need the same things.”
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Uncounted absentee ballots delay race calls
The State Board of Elections said 117,000 absentee ballots remain outstanding, which delayed independent calls in the races for president and U.S. Senate, both of which were closer than that margin with 100% of precincts reporting.
With both Trump and Tillis holding leads of almost 100,000 votes, it would take very large proportions of the remaining ballots to swing those races toward Biden or Cunningham -- and some of those 117,000 ballots may belong to voters who voted Tuesday instead.
Statewide results delayed
The statewide results from early voting and mail-in voting were delayed Tuesday night by 45 minutes until 8:15 p.m.
The N.C. State Board of Elections met twice Tuesday to extend the deadlines at 10 precincts in Cabarrus, Sampson, Warren and Guilford counties.
Historically, once polls close on election night at 7:30 p.m, state officials immediately release the results of early voting and mail-in voting. Then over the next few hours, the full Election Day results are reported as those become known.
So even though the 45-minute delay only affected one polling place out of more than 2,600 statewide, it meant that results from early or mail-in voting weren’t made public until just after 8:15 p.m.
“This is the normal course of business in North Carolina and we’re very used to dealing with it,” board chairman Damon Circosta said.
Tuesday afternoon, the board extended the deadline to vote at one precinct in Sampson County, in Dunn, by 45 minutes due to some technical glitches Tuesday morning.
The vote was 3-2 with the board’s Democratic members in favor and the Republicans opposed. Republican member Tommy Tucker said 45 minutes was too long and the extension should be 30 minutes instead. However, the Democrats said since the precinct was 45 minutes late in opening this morning, voters should get an additional 45 minutes this evening.
In addition to the site in Dunn, three other sites in Sampson County, three in Warren County, two in Cabarrus County and one in Guilford County were given extended time to vote.
—Will Doran, wdoran@newsobserver.com
Jill Biden rallies voters in Cary
Jill Biden arrived about 3:40 p.m. at the polling place at Mills Park Elementary School, in west Cary. She greeted a crowd of about 150 people who’d gathered, though some said later that they didn’t know she was coming.
“Our next First Lady,” somebody shouted.
Biden didn’t stay for long; only about 10 minutes. Already, it had been a long day. It began early with a family gathering for Mass in Pennsylvania, “and then we went our separate ways,” Biden said.
“We’ve been on this campaign trail for, gosh, a year and a half,” she said. “So now it’s down to the final hours. But it feels great. I love the support of the American people. I think they’re ready for change.”
— Andrew Carter, acarter@newsobserver.com
One last vote in Durham
At 7:30 p.m. sharp a voice emerged from the gymnasium at Southern High in Durham.
“7:30, polls are closed!” a woman said, and the tone almost sounded celebratory.
With that, Election Day had ended at this precinct in Durham. Outside, workers began collecting some of the signs that had been stuck into the ground. Inside, the last remaining voters cast their ballots. There were only a few.
One of them was Kiara Moore. Not long before, she’d walked quickly across the parking lot and into the polling site. She walked through the doors at 7:26, and with four minutes to spare was the last voter to cast a ballot here.
She hadn’t planned to cut it so close, but she had a 5-year-old son at home, and what with virtual school and projects and work, it just happened that way. Moore, 26, took a breath and sighed on the steps outside.
“Just life,” she said of everything that pushed her vote to the last minute. “But I made it. I made it.”
Moore said she always votes, and even her young son had been reminding her about it this year. This election felt different, she said, what with “just seeing the politics — everything going Skywalker.”
“It’s pretty much like, it’s a battle,” she said. “It’s a battle of injustice, justice. Racism.” Moore said she’d voted for Joe Biden for president.
— Andrew Carter, acarter@newsobserver.com
At GOP party, masks are optional. COVID waiver is not
The North Carolina Republican Party gathered later in the evening at an office building near Cameron Village in Raleigh, where attendees had to sign a waiver before entering. It said if they get COVID-19, they won’t hold anyone at the event liable. Face masks were handed out at the entrance, but most of the guests didn’t wear them inside.
About 100 people stood at high-top tables eating, drinking, taking photos and watching the live election results. A life-size cardboard of Trump stood on stage where candidates and GOP leaders will give speeches later on in the night.
—Kate Murphy, kamurphy@newsobserver.com
Cawthorn’s first tweet as congressman-elect
The Associated Press called the 11th District congressional race for Republican Madison Cawthorn at 9:20 p.m. At 9:24 p.m., the 25-year-old tweeted for the first time as a congressman-elect: “Cry more, lib.”
Cawthorn won a bitterly contested election in the western portion of the state with Democratic candidate Morris “Moe” Davis for the house seat vacated by current White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. With 261 of 304 precincts reporting, Cawthorn had 54.0% of the vote to Davis’ 42.9%, a difference of 48,088 votes.
In the days leading up to Tuesday, the two candidates had exchanged insults on social media while Cawthorn was accused of racism, sexual misconduct and ties to white supremacy.
In Bladen County, a familiar name
Bladen County political operative Leslie McCrae Dowless faces multiple felony charges for his alleged role in masterminding absentee ballot fraud in the 2018 9th District Congressional race, but he’s also a sitting Bladen Soil & Water Conservation District supervisor.
Running for re-election despite the charges, Dowless finished third in the race with 17.7% of the vote.
Marchers return to Graham
Three days after 200 people participating in a march to the polls were pepper-sprayed by law enforcement in Graham, a group more than twice as large convened Tuesday for a do-over.
With marchers walking in twos and threes, the procession snaked through neighborhoods on sidewalks and road shoulders, past one polling place and toward the early voting site that had been the planned endpoint of Saturday’s march.
After a short rally near the early voting site that few marchers arrived at on Saturday, the crowd proceeded toward Court Square, where Saturday’s march ended in pepper spray.
This time, a group of counter-protesters met them near the Confederate monument with Confederate flags held aloft. Sheriff’s deputies and Graham police officers were waiting.
— Carli Brosseau, cbrosseau@newsobserver.com
Election protection hotline receives calls
A North Carolina election protection hotline received more than 300 calls by 8 a.m. on Tuesday, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice reported via Twitter.
It was reported most calls concerned difficulties in finding polling sites because of poor signage, or concerns about insufficient staffing. Multiple polling sites across the state opened late and the State Board of Election later extended hours at those precincts to allow voters to cast their ballots.
The phone line is being staffed by Democracy NC and other groups at 888-OUR-VOTE.
What to do if you haven’t received your absentee ballot
Anyone who requested an absentee ballot and has not received it can go to their designated poll site and cast a ballot. Every polling site in the state is providing curbside voting to voters with a disability, experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, or those who have a medical condition that doesn’t allow them to wear a mask or puts them at greater risk to contract COVID-19.
If voters have already mailed the absentee ballot and it has not yet been approved by the county board of elections, they can go to a polling site and ask to cast a provisional ballot.
—Chiara Vercellone, cvercellone@newsobserver.com
St. Aug’s students march to polls
Over the beat of thundering drums, more than 200 St. Augustine’s University students marched through Raleigh to the polls.
They filled sidewalks on both sides of Tarboro Street as neighbors waved and danced from their porches, stepping in place as the school’s marching band passed.
“I’ve already voted, but I felt like it was important to be out here today,” said Tamika Sanders, a senior studying public health, wearing her Miss Pre-Alumni crown. “This is a very important election to be involved with today. I don’t want to say it’s scary, but it is on everyone’s mind: What’s going to happen tonight after the election?”
The march came three days after a voter rally in Graham met with Alamance County deputies armed with pepper spray, an event that students said spurred them on further.
“Fannie Lou Hamer said ‘I am sick and tired of being sick and tired,’” said interim President Maria Arvelo Lumpkin. “If you’re tired of being sick and tired, you need to take extremely seriously that voting is your most inalienable right.”
— Josh Shaffer, jshaffer@newsobserver.com
Some NC polling sites open late
Four polling sites opened late Tuesday “for various reasons, including poll workers who arrived late,” State Board Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said.
The state board will meet later Tuesday to consider possible voting extensions at these sites. Details about the board meeting will be sent to the media “as soon as possible.”
“The extension of hours is not unusual in any election,” Bell said.
The four sites are located in Guilford County (one), Cabarrus County (one), and Sampson County (two).
Bell said she believes most of the delays are within 15 to 30 minutes.
“Please remember that we have 2,660 polling places across the state. Minor issues are going to happen, and protocols are in place to address the circumstances as they arise,” Bell said.
—Charlie Innis, cinnis@newsobserver.com
How to report voting problems
If there’s a voting problem at the polls Tuesday, there are ways to report it.
The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun are working with Electionland, a national project to track and investigate voting problems in North Carolina — confusion over absentee voting rules to mail slowdowns to clerical errors. If you have a voting issue, it can be reported so that journalists can investigate:
SMS: Text the word VOTE (VOTA for Spanish) to 81380.
WhatsApp: Send the word VOTE (VOTA for Spanish) to 1-850-909-8683.
Facebook Messenger: Go to m.me/electionland.
North Carolina residents also can call the North Carolina State Board of Elections at (919) 814-0700 or (866) 522-4723.
Jammed tabulator causes delay
At Southeast Raleigh High School, a tabulator machine briefly jammed Tuesday morning, causing a 25-minute delay.
But the precinct judge reported the “sensitive” machine there had been fixed because it was not completely level on the floor. Voting resumed with no lines.
Voters got a bonus from volunteers on the way out: free granola bars.
— Josh Shaffer, jshaffer@newsobserver.com
Thin voting crowd at Roberts Park
At Roberts Park Community Center, where hundreds of voters lined up hours before dawn on the first day of early voting, the crowd was thin but dedicated for the chilly first minutes of Tuesday polling.
“I was no. 4,” said Caleb Sanderson, a Raleigh financial advisor and self-described diehard. “I’ve always been an early voter, even when I was first registered at 18 and my Dad would take me before school.”
He had practically no wait. At this East Raleigh polling place, the crowds have already come.
— Josh Shaffer, jshaffer@newsobserver.com
Waiting to vote until Election Day
Tanya Rogers always casts her ballot on Election Day, so she resisted this year’s early-voting trend.
But she was surprised to find Brooks Avenue Church of Christ nearly empty in West Raleigh — no line at all.
But she has a guess about why.
“This is the most-important election I’ve seen,” she said. “I thought it was Obama in 2008, but this is probably the most-important. I’m 36, and I don’t know how many more times I’m going to say that.”
— Josh Shaffer, jshaffer@newsobserver.com
Biden campaign launches final canvassing
On Monday, the Biden campaign announced state Sen. Natalie Murdock, congressional candidate Deborah Ross and former Congressional candidate Dan McCready would be joining canvass launches. Ross was in Raleigh, Murdock in Durham and McCready in Charlotte as part of the “Final Countdown to Vote.”
Another Biden campaign event in Raleigh was “Puppies to the Polls.” N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein, lieutenant governor candidate and state Rep. Yvonne Holley and state Rep. Rosa Gill joined volunteers and “furry friends” at a voting location to discuss issues in the election.
North Carolina could be swing state
It’s Election Day and one of biggest questions to be answered Tuesday is voter turnout in North Carolina, considering the volume of early voting.
North Carolina is considered a swing state in the race for president and in the U.S. Senate. President Trump won the state by 173,000 votes in 2016 and Sen. Thom Tillis was elected by less than 50,000 votes in 2014.
With the Republicans trying to hold on to a 53-47 majority in the Senate, the focus has been intense on the race between Tillis and Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham. Most polls predict a close finish.
Trump made a visit to Fayetteville on Monday and First Lady Melania Trump was in Huntersville, her first solo event in the state during the re-election campaign.
The forecast is for cool morning weather and sunny skies across the state, then warmer temperatures in the afternoon, which could lead to larger voter turnout.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 6:39 AM.