Tuesday’s elections delivered a mixed and, in some cases, razor-thin set of results in North Carolina, with Democrats showing significant gains in a state Republicans had controlled for years, while Florida was reported to have performed well overall for the GOP.
In North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race, former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper defeated the Republican candidate, flipping the seat.
North Carolina has 14 congressional districts. Heading into Election Day, Republicans held 10 of them. Depending on the outcome of three still-uncalled races — CD3, CD5 and CD7, all currently held by Republicans — the balance could flip entirely, with Democrats potentially controlling 10 seats to the GOP’s four. In CD5, Rep. Virginia Foxx’s race remains too close to call, with reports indicating she could lose by fewer than 100 votes.
Republicans also lost control of the North Carolina state house. Several of those races were decided by margins of less than 300 votes, a gap narrow enough that recounts are expected in multiple contests. The state senate appears likely to remain in Republican hands, but only narrowly — one incumbent Republican is currently leading by fewer than 300 votes.
Nationally, control of the U.S. House shifted to Democrats on election night, according to reports from election watchers tracking the results as they came in.
With several North Carolina races still undecided and margins thin enough to trigger recounts, the final partisan makeup of the state’s congressional delegation and legislature may not be confirmed for some time.
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