Democrats fell short again in wresting away swing-state prize North Carolina from Republicans in the presidential election, but scored significant downballot victories, giving them hope as they look to the future.
Despite Donald Trump's more than 3-percentage point win over Vice President Kamala Harris in North Carolina, Democrats celebrated Election Day victories in races for governor, attorney general and the legislature in a closely divided state where conservatives have recently dominated the General Assembly and the courts.
In an election with few bright spots for Democrats nationally, the ticket-splitting tendencies of Tar Heel state voters offered some of that good news.
"I think we had quality candidates running for office against right-wing extremists, and the people of North Carolina made the right choices," said Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, a Harris surrogate who was once considered her potential running mate, of the downballot races.
Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, easily defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to succeed Cooper, who was ineligible to run again because of term limits. The campaign was dominated by Stein's fundraising prowess and by ads and social media targeting Robinson's history of inflammatory statements on issues such as abortion and LGBTQ rights.
