Democratic incumbent Gov. Roy Cooper was re-elected on Tuesday night to serve another four years as governor of North Carolina. His challenger, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest called Cooper on Tuesday night to concede the election.
"To the people of North Carolina, thank you so much for electing me as your governor for another four years," Cooper said in his victory speech. "Serving in this office has been the honor of my life."
Gov. Cooper was elected four years ago, narrowly defeating incumbent Pat McCrory by about 10,000 votes. The 2020 race for North Carolina governor was another close one. Cooper received 51% of the vote compared to Forest's 47%.
The North Carolina Democratic Party released a statement after Cooper's victory.
"North Carolinians have chosen to re-elect Governor Roy Cooper, a fighter for working families who is committed to moving our state forward," the North Carolina Democratic Party said in a statement. "Since 2016, Governor Cooper has fought for a better educated, healthier, and more prosperous North Carolina where people can have more money in their pockets and opportunities to live with purpose and abundance."
As of Wednesday morning, the presidential race was still too close to call, with mail-in ballots still waiting to be counted across the country. North Carolina has until November 12 to count all mail-in votes received and postmarked by November 3.
"For months, the nation has focused on North Carolina, and it's come down to counting the votes," said Gov. Cooper. "I know that there are a lot of important races that are too close to call, and we must let the process work to be sure that all the legal votes are counted."
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