North Carolina on Election Day: Live results — Raleigh
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Election Day in the Triangle was marked by cloudless blue skies, unusually warm temperatures and calm, quiet polling places from Raleigh to Durham to Chapel Hill.
Why it matters: A critical swing state this year, North Carolina was a must-win for former President Trump.
- Around 11:15pm, the Associated Press called the race for Trump, who'd won the state twice before and who'd spent the past few weeks holding rallies in cities from Raleigh to Gastonia.
Between the lines: In a closely watched governor's race, Democrat Josh Stein defeated embattled Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Stein will become the state's first Jewish governor.
- Voters in the state also approved a constitutional amendment clarifying that "only a citizen of the United States" can vote.
Context: North Carolina is guaranteed to have a new lieutenant governor, state superintendent, treasurer and labor commissioner — all races that haven't been called yet as of 12:45am Wednesday.
Zoom out: More than 2,600 polling places were open across the state Tuesday, most without incident, State Elections Board Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell told reporters Tuesday morning, WRAL reported.
- The board voted to extend hours for two polling places in the state — one in Wilson County and one in Burke County — after technical difficulties in the morning, per WFMY.
Zoom in: In Carrboro, a small town that leans heavily Democratic, Republicans didn't have a volunteer table set up at Carrboro High School, as they have in the past. Still, the polling place highlighted the range of perspectives voters had in this consequential swing state.
- Haley Autry and Sage Rampley, both 25, arrived at the high school early Tuesday afternoon, eager to make their voices heard.
- Autry, who was voting for the first time, planned to vote for Trump. "He seems to have a little bit more of a head on his shoulders. He can answer questions directly." Rampley declined to say who she's picking for president but that "there's things I like about both."
What they're saying: Nils Ekholm, 45, a Carrboro resident who moved to the area from New Hampshire for work, said he's always voted for Democrats for president and did so again today.
- "To put it bluntly, Nazi Germany needs to stay in the history books," Ekholm told Axios.
The big picture: Abortion rights have been a winning issue for Democrats and have motivated voters to turn out nationwide, including in North Carolina.
- In Raleigh, Teresa Anderson, 66, and Paula Means, 72, two friends from Winston-Salem, drove to a downtown bar called Birdie's Tuesday evening to watch the results roll in from a "bluer" area and enjoy the city's atmosphere.
- The pair was rooting for Kamala Harris and Josh Stein due to concerns that another Trump administration would further erode reproductive rights for women.
- "I think removing freedoms has really scared women," Anderson said. "I think that there are other freedoms that are going to be removed. A lot of people just don't think it can happen — just like women didn't think that Roe could be overturned."
Go deeper: Voter Guide 2024: What's on the ballot in the Triangle.