Tuesday’s ballots are still being counted, it appears there will be little change in the makeup of the state legislature heading into 2021.
With 94% percent of votes counted by Wednesday morning, it appeared that Democrats’ attempt to gain control of the General Assembly had fallen short. Republican House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger declared victory Tuesday night.
It was expected that Democrats would gain one state Senate seat, leaving Republicans with a 28-22 majority. Republicans were expected to gain four seats in the House, cementing its majority of Democrats 69-51.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, meanwhile, beat his Republican challenger, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, earning 51.5% of the reported vote.
“2020 has been a trying year for small businesses,” NFIB State Director Gregg Thompson said. “We look forward to working with legislators on both sides of the aisle on measures to help small businesses recover from the COVID-19 economic downturn so they can stay in business and create jobs.”
The Associated Press had called 13 races for the U.S. House of Representatives. The projected winners were:
G.K. Butterfield, District 1
Deborah Ross, District 2
Greg Murphy, District 3
David Price, District 4
Virginia Foxx, District 5
Kathy Manning, District 6
David Rouzer, District 7
Richard Hudson, District 8
Dan Bishop, District 9
Patrick McHenry, District 10
Madison Cawthorn, District 11
Alma Adams, District 12
Ted Budd, District 13
Deborah Ross, District 2
Greg Murphy, District 3
David Price, District 4
Virginia Foxx, District 5
Kathy Manning, District 6
David Rouzer, District 7
Richard Hudson, District 8
Dan Bishop, District 9
Patrick McHenry, District 10
Madison Cawthorn, District 11
Alma Adams, District 12
Ted Budd, District 13
The outcome of the U.S. Senate was less certain, however. Sen. Thom Tillis was leading Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham 48.7% to 46.9%, but with 7% of the vote outstanding Wednesday morning, it was unclear who would win.
