Campaign

NC governor race goes into overtime

by Lydia Wheeler

The gubernatorial race in North Carolina doesn’t appear to be over yet.

Democratic challenger Roy Cooper was leading Gov. Pat McCrory (R) by less than 1 point with all precincts reporting early Wednesday morning, but the state’s attorney general has not been declared the winner. 

{mosads}The News & Observer reported that the race could hinge on provisional ballots that have yet to be counted. Fewer than 4,500 votes put Cooper in the lead.

“We’re going to fight for every vote between now and Nov. 18,” McCrory reportedly told supporters in Raleigh on Tuesday night. That’s the date by which all counties must certify their results. “We’re going to check everything, and we’re going to make sure that every vote counts. … We plan to be governor in a second term right here in North Carolina,” he said.

Cooper had led in polling since August, though McCrory began making up ground in late October in a race that largely focused on the state’s controversial bathroom law.

Cooper was quick to join a chorus of national Democrats hammering McCrory for signing House Bill 2, requiring transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender assigned at birth in schools and government buildings, into law in March.

The Justice Department is now suing the state, claiming the law violates the Civil Rights Act.

“This action is about a great deal more than bathrooms. This is about the dignity and respect that we accord our fellow citizens,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in May, when announcing the federal lawsuit. 

The legislation caused top entertainers and sports leagues to cancel events in the state, including Bruce Springsteen, the NCAA and NBA.

McCrory has blamed the controversy on the Charlotte City Council, saying the city’s enactment of a nondiscrimination ordinance regarding transgender people created the need for the law.  

Cooper has promised to repeal the law. His campaign outraised and outspent McCrory in what became the most expensive gubernatorial race in North Carolina history.