RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has been reelected to a second term, The Associated Press reported, defeating Republican challenger Lt. Gov. Dan Forest.
With more than 89% of precincts reporting, Cooper led with 51% of the vote compared to Forest's 46% of the vote. Cooper had 2.7 million votes to Forest's 2.4 million votes, according to unofficial results from the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
Libertarian candidate Steven J. DiFiore had 1% of votes, and Constitution Party candidate Al Pisano had less than 1%.
The coronavirus pandemic changed this election year. The first case in North Carolina was recorded on the day of the March primary. Both Cooper and Forest easily won their nominations, and spent the rest of the year campaigning on very different perspectives on response to the pandemic.
As governor, Cooper led North Carolina's response and the restrictions. He issued the statewide stay-at-home order in the spring, which has been lifted in phases and is now in the final phase. Some restrictions are still in place, especially around capacity at restaurants and bars, and gathering size. He also put a statewide mask mandate in place, which remains. Forest, on the other hand, said he would lift the mask mandate and reopen all businesses.
Beyond COVID-19 response, also at play was whether or not North Carolinians vote to reelect Republican President Donald Trump or replace him with Democrat Joe Biden. Voters went for both Trump and Cooper in 2016. Cooper led in multiple polls this election season.
Cooper campaign spokesperson Liz Doherty said the governor was spending Election Day getting his normal COVID-19 briefings and would watch returns with his family.
Cooper was expected to speak at the North Carolina Democratic Party event, which was being held with limited attendance in the area outside the NCDP headquarters on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. Blue lights shone on the building.
Candidates took the podium throughout the night as results came in and races were called, but the event lacked the party atmosphere of most election years due to COVID-19 guidelines.
It's difficult to separate the governor's race from the ongoing pandemic, North Carolina Democratic Party communications director Austin Cook said, noting that education, job security and health care are now all seen through a distinct coronavirus prism.
"That's the one thing that's impacting everyone's daily lives most directly," Cook said. "And not just in terms of what we're able to get outside and do. ... Parents are nervous about whether their kids are going to be able to get the schooling they need. It's job security. And it's health care, everyone wants to be able to make sure they can see a doctor if they get sick."
Cook said keeping Cooper as governor was a priority, but that the party spent the past few weeks pushing legislative races as well.
"We've made a pretty strong push in the last week for legislative candidates to make sure they have the funds they need to get over the finish line. Obviously we want to hold the governor's mansion but to really give the governor (what) he needs to push his agenda forward obviously we need to take at least one of the legislative chambers."
The North Carolina Republican Party was hosting its watch party in Raleigh on Tuesday night in an office building near Cameron Village.
They expected guests from the North Carolina Trump victory campaign as well as U.S. Rep. David Rouzer; congressional candidate Alan Swain; state superintendent candidate Catherine Truitt; Justice Paul Newby, who's running for the chief justice seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court, Judge Jefferson Griffin and attorney general candidate Jim O'Neill.
Forest's campaign held a separate event in Johnston County. At the event in Selma, no media outlets were being allowed inside, and the Forest campaign declined to be interviewed.
At least 200 cars were parked in the event venue's parking lot. Inside the venue, few people wore masks or maintained social distancing. North Carolina has a statewide mask mandate. An older man walking into the venue with a woman told her he forgot his mask and took a step back toward the parking lot to go to his car to get it, but she told him that he didn't need it.
At the GOP event, staff were making people sign a waiver before they went inside that said if they were to get COVID-19, they wouldn't hold anyone there liable or responsible. They were also handing out face masks at the entrance, but most of the guests weren't wearing them inside the event. About 100 people were gathered in the room eating, drinking and taking photos together and standing around high-top tables while watching the live election results. A life-size cardboard of President Donald Trump stood at the podium on stage where candidates and GOP leaders were to give speeches later on in the night.
North Carolinians had three options to vote: voting early at one-stop locations, mailing in their ballots or waiting until Election Day to vote in their precinct. Masks were worn, hand sanitizer was available and one-time-use pens were given out.
In-person early voting began in North Carolina on Oct. 15 and ended Oct. 31. In a two-week period, more than 3.6 million people cast ballots. That's on top of the nearly 940,000 voters who sent in absentee ballots. Nearly 62% of registered voters cast ballots early. Women turned out in higher numbers for the early votes with 64% casting ballots compared to 59% of registered men. Residents under 40 years of age made up 28% of the early votes.
North Carolina faced several challenges to its election laws as voting was underway. Lawsuits filed in federal and state courts challenged where voters could drop off their absentee ballots, whether a witness signature was needed on mailed-in ballots and how long the boards of elections could continue collecting mailed-in ballots after Election Day.
In the end only one rule changed. Voters got an extension to get their mailed-in ballots to the boards of elections. Instead of a Nov. 6 deadline, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a settlement agreement that extended the deadline through Nov. 12. But those ballots must still be postmarked by Nov. 3 to count.
