Donald Trump won North Carolina with 51 percent of the vote to Democrat Kamala Harris’ 48 percent, giving him a key battleground state that helped propel him to a second term in the White House.

Trump won North Carolina by 191,627 votes, significantly higher than his 2020 margin of 74,483 votes, part of a nationwide red shift that swept the country. With just a handful of states’ votes still to be counted, Trump’s Electoral College lead over Harris stood at 277 to 224. By Wednesday morning, major news outlets had called the race for Trump.

North Carolina will keep a Democrat in the governor’s office with Josh Stein defeating his scandal-ridden Republican challenger, Mark Robinson, with 55 percent of the vote.

Democrats also won the following statewide races:

• Lieutenant governor: Rachel Hunt
• Attorney general: Jeff Jackson
• Secretary of state: Elaine Marshall
• Superintendent of public instruction: Maurice (Mo) Green

Republicans won the following offices:

• Auditor: Dave Boliek
• Commissioner of agriculture: Steve Troxler
• Insurance commissioner: Mike Causey
• Commissioner of labor: Luke Farley
• Treasurer:  Brad Briner 

As expected, Republican Chuck Edwards easily won re-election over Democrat Caleb Rudow, 57 to 43 percent, to represent western North Carolina’s 11th district in Congress. 

The North Carolina Board of Elections posted unofficial election results with all precincts reporting as of 2:21 a.m. Wednesday. They include results for president and Congressional seats, statewide offices, state Senate, and state House races.

Buncombe County voters remained reliably blue with 61 percent selecting Harris for president compared to 37 percent for Trump. Rudow won 61 percent of the county vote over Edwards, and Democrats led in all state offices from governor to treasurer.

In local races, Democrat Amanda Edwards defeated unaffiliated Van Duncan for Buncombe County Board of Commissioners chair with 61 percent of the vote. Democrats won the other three county commission races with Jennifer Horton defeating Paul Benjamin in District 1, Terri Wells beating Bruce O’Connell in District 2, and Parker Sloan running unopposed in District 3.

In Asheville City Council races, incumbents Sage Turner and Kim Roney won, along with newcomer Roberto “Bo” Hess. Hess fills the seat vacated by Sandra Kilgore, who did not run for re-election.

All four city of Asheville bond referendums passed easily, with voters approving bonds for housing, transportation, parks and recreation, and public safety.

In North Carolina Senate District 49, Democrat Julie Mayfield won re-election with 69 percent of the vote. In District 46, Republican Warren Daniel prevailed with 53 percent of the vote.

In the North Carolina House, Democratic incumbent Lindsey Prather won District 115 with slightly more than 51 percent of the vote. Democrat Eric Ager won in District 114 with nearly 60 percent of the vote. Brian Turner, the Democratic candidate in District 116, ran unopposed.

View the complete results for Buncombe County here, including races for the county and city of Asheville school boards, and the towns of Black Mountain, Montreat and Biltmore Forest.

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Sally Kestin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter. Email skestin@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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