RALEIGH, N.C. — President Donald Trump claimed North Carolina's 15 electoral votes on Friday, but his victory in the state was not enough to win reelection.
Election Day was Nov. 3. On Saturday, Nov. 7, The Associated Press declared that former Vice President Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States after winning Pennsylvania. The state and its 20 electoral votes gave Biden the 270 electoral votes needed to win.
Since then, several states still had margins between the two men that were too close to call. But on Friday, the AP declared Trump the winner in North Carolina, where he had led Biden narrowly since election night.
At 2:30 p.m. Eastern time Friday, Trump had 73,620 votes more than Biden. North Carolina has as many as 133,000 ballots left to count, as of Thursday, but the number could end up being far less.
North Carolina's 100 counties will certify the official results Friday. A last-minute U.S. Supreme Court ruling let stand a decision by the State Board of Elections to extend the deadline the state can accept ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 to Nov. 12.
In modern history, Republican presidential candidates frequently win North Carolina, dating back to 1968, with two exceptions. Jimmy Carter took the state in 1976 and so did Barack Obama in 2008.
Previously, it was a Democratic bastion. In 1968, Richard Nixon became only the third Republican presidential candidate to win North Carolina since the Civil War, after Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 and Herbert Hoover in 1928.
The Trump campaign spent considerable time in North Carolina, sending both the president and surrogates to campaign in the state.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the climate for campaigning throughout the nation with Trump holding large, often maskless rallies and Biden holding smaller, drive-in stops.
Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Trump family attracted large crowds in North Carolina. Biden made fewer appearances with much smaller crowds. He focused his attention on states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. That focus paid off for Biden, who swept all three states, leading to his victory.
Trump claimed victory in North Carolina on election night, while votes continued to be counted.
As of Friday afternoon, Trump had not conceded the election to Biden, who already is forming a transition team to take over the White House.
