Charlotte might have sent Pat McCrory packing, but couldn’t stop Trump

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton pulled more than 62 percent of the vote in Mecklenburg County, compared with about 33 percent for Donald Trump. But the large margin of victory in Charlotte and other urban areas didn’t make up for an overwhelming Trump vote statewide. The Republican candidate and now the presumed president-elect won with about 50 percent of the North Carolina vote, compared with 46 percent for Clinton.

The biggest drama was saved for the North Carolina governor’s race, where Gov. Pat McCrory — a former Charlotte mayor — was expecting a tight re-election race against Democrat and state attorney general Roy Cooper.

Mecklenburg County marked one of the biggest reversals for the governor. McCrory carried his home county by 3,000 votes when he was voted into office in 2012. This time around, he lost among Mecklenburg voters by more than 130,000 votes.

[Agenda story: Can Pat McCrory’s relationship with his hometown ever be repaired?]

Another 11,000-plus in Mecklenburg voted for Libertarian candidate Lon Cecil, a faction that could have swung the governor’s race all by itself. The final margin as of early Wednesday morning, had Cooper winning by about 3,700 votes.

That falls well within the accepted range for calling for a recount. McCrory told media outlets he would not immediately concede the race.

McCrory had maintained a lead most of the night as the votes were tallied. But a cache of 93,000 votes in Durham County — an overwhelmingly Democratic electorate — came in at 11:45 p.m. and flipped the race in Cooper’s favor.

Cooper assured his supporters in the early hours of Wednesday morning that his victory would be certified.

Down the ballot, Republicans did better. Lt. Gov. Dan Forest easily won re-election with about 52 percent of the vote.

Taken together, the three races show just how big an impact issues like the toll lanes on I-77 and House Bill 2 — the law that limited protections for LGBT people and led to the loss of major sports and entertainment events around the state — had on North Carolina’s electorate.

Trump garnered about 60,000 more votes than did McCrory — a sign that Republican voters were much more comfortable with the reality television star and businessman.

Here’s how other key races shook out.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, easily won re-election against Democrat Deborah Ross. Incumbent U.S. House members Robert Pittenger (R) and Alma Adams (D) won as well.

Mecklenburg County commissioners Pat Cotham, Trevor Fuller and Ella Scarborough all won back their at-large seats comfortably. Republican Matthew Ridenhour, the only one to face a challenge in a district race, won as well.

Democratic N.C. senators Jeff Jackson and Joel Ford demolished their competition.

Democrat Mary Belk appears to have unseated N.C. Rep. Rob Bryan by about 600 votes in one of the most hotly contested state House races.

Mark Johnson unseated Democrat June Atkinson as state superintendent of public instruction. Mike Causey, a Republican, bested incumbent Wayne Goodwin for insurance commissioner. Dale Folwell, a Republican, won the state treasurer race, taking over for popular Democratic treasurer Janet Cowell. Cherie Berry, elevator queen, won re-election as labor commissioner. Josh Stein, a top Cooper lieutenant, won the attorney general election and thus could be a future gubernatorial candidate.

And in the race you all were wondering about, Brad Johnson won a position as Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor.