Uh ... who won NC last night?

[Bornthrilla]

When I left for work this morning they still had NC colored gray.

What's the deal?

[dj98]

Obama won by 11,000 votes.... and he won Indiana by 2 percent or 22,000 votes... It was a landslide!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bornthrilla]

With all votes in, N.C. president race too close to call
Wednesday, November 5
(updated 9:17 am)
By Aaron Beard
Associated Press


RALEIGH (AP) - Barack Obama didn't need North Carolina to win the White House. It's a good thing, too, since it could be a while before anyone is awarded the state's 15 electoral votes.

The president-elect and Republican John McCain remained in a race too close to call in the state early Wednesday. But the results will prove to be a mere footnote to history since Obama won the presidency with key victories in several swing states.

The official outcome in North Carolina will depend the counting of provisional ballots, cast by voters whose eligibility to vote must be confirmed. That's a process that could take several days. It wasn't immediately known how many provisional ballots are outstanding.

With 100 percent of the nearly 3,000 precincts reporting, Obama led McCain by about 12,000 votes out of more than 4.2 million counted in unofficial results. Libertarian Bob Barr had less than 1 percent.

"This election was too important," said James Kessler, 40, of Salisbury, who voted Tuesday for the first time and cast his ballot for Obama.

"You look around and you see a lot of families having a hard time. People can't find jobs. It's been tough around here. I'm lucky, but I have friends who can't find work. I think Obama really cares about working people. He wants to help."

Obama, in his bid to become the first Democrat to win the Old North State since Jimmy Carter in 1976, jumped to an early lead Tuesday night on the strength of a high turnout among early voters. But McCain's grew closer as the night wore on, putting the two in a virtual tie late in the race.

The State Board of Elections reported a 68.4 percent voter turnout unofficially, which doesn't include provisional ballots that numbered nearly 50,000 in the election between President Bush and Democrat John Kerry four years ago. The turnout is close to the 69 percent reported in the 1984 race between President Reagan and Walter Mondale, the highest since 1972.

Obama's presidential bid included a remarkable venture into the South, turning the traditional Republican stronghold of North Carolina into a tossup in the weeks leading up to Election Day. Buoyed by a big win over Hillary Clinton in the state's May primary, Obama made a big push to swing the state. He hired hundreds of paid staff members who filled dozens of offices, and spent millions on TV ads - at one point outspending McCain 8-to-1 on commercials.

McCain watched from afar for months before finally returning to the state in the campaign's final weeks. He also sent running mate Sarah Palin, who drew thousands of supporters who lined up for hours to see the Alaska governor.

"I think she's got more experience than Barack Obama does," said Jeremy Hooks, a 31-year-old auctioneer from Knightdale.

Although Bush won North Carolina by 12 percentage points four years ago - a year when former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards was on the ticket as the Democratic vice presidential nominee - the politics of the state are moderating.

Retirees from northern states are moving to communities along the Atlantic coast and in the western Blue Ridge mountains. Young professionals - many educated at one of the state's nationally ranked universities - are settling from Charlotte to Raleigh in cities along Interstate 85.

This year's boom in voter registration tilted toward Democrats and there were signs within the record-setting 2.6 million votes cast early that Obama entered Election Day with an advantage.

Registered Democrats made up 52 percent of those voting early, while black voters - who polls show overwhelmingly support Obama - made up 26 percent of the early vote, compared with 17 percent in 2004.

[Bornthrilla]

Obama adds symbolic victory in North Carolina
Associated Press
Nov. 6, 2008, 11:19AM

RALEIGH, N.C. — President-elect Obama has won North Carolina, a symbolic triumph in a state that hadn't voted for a Democrat in more than a generation.

The Associated Press declared Obama the winner today after canvassing counties in North Carolina to determine the number of outstanding provisional ballots.

That survey found that there are not enough remaining ballots for Republican John McCain to close a 13,693-vote deficit.

North Carolina's 15 electoral votes brings Obama's total to 364 — nearly 100 more than necessary to win the White House. Missouri is the only state that remains too close to call.

Obama's win in North Carolina was the first for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter won the state in 1976.

[Bornthrilla]

AP calls N.C. for Obama
Thursday, November 6
(updated 2:10 pm)
By The Associated Press


RALEIGH (AP) - Barack Obama won North Carolina on Thursday, a symbolic triumph for the president-elect that underscored his political strength as he turned nine states that President Bush won in 2004 to Democratic blue.

The Associated Press declared Obama the winner after canvassing counties in North Carolina to determine the number of outstanding provisional ballots. That survey found that Republican John McCain can not close the 13,693-vote deficit among the remaining ballots.

North Carolina's 15 electoral votes brings Obama's total to 364 - nearly 100 more than necessary to win the White House - to McCain's 162. Missouri is the only state that remains too close to call, with McCain leading by several thousand votes.

Obama's win in North Carolina was the first for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter won the state in 1976.

Of Bush's 2004 states, Obama captured Virginia, Florida and North Carolina in the South, Ohio, Indiana and Iowa in the Midwest and Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico in the West.

Obama ran an aggressive general election campaign in North Carolina after his wide primary victory in the state over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested he could win a trove of electoral votes that most assumed would belong to McCain.

His campaign's focus on the state's two-week early voting period was critical. Obama won more than 1.1 million early votes, giving him a 180,000-vote advantage heading into Election Day - a gap too great for McCain to overcome.

McCain spent months watching North Carolina from afar during the summer as Obama visited regularly, but the GOP nominee returned to the state in the campaign's final few weeks as polls suggested an Obama victory was possible.

Obama spent millions of televisions ads that were buttressed by hundreds of staff members in dozens of offices to take advantage of North Carolina's rapidly changing demographics and a large bloc of black voters galvanized by his bid to become the first African-American president.

North Carolina's growing population includes a booming urban corridor from Charlotte to Raleigh along Interstate 85, while retirees from northern states - who are more willing to vote for Democrats - are filling the state's coast and mountains.

That provided an opening for Obama that didn't exist 20 years ago, said Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Public Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"There are persuadable voters available who are not caught up in the old constructs of the politics of North Carolina or Virginia," Guillory said. "So to me the interesting story out of this campaign is that the Obama campaign discovered an opportunity in the South, in those states that it seemed that had moved most briskly into the new economy."

Exit polls also showed that some 30 percent of voters still considered race a factor in their decision, with the numbers split evenly among voters who backed McCain and Obama. Nearly one in five voters considered race an important factor.

James Kessler, 40, of Salisbury, said while he considered a number of issues before casting a vote, he felt a "sense of pride" in voting for a fellow black man for president. "I didn't think this would ever happen," he said.

But Obama also performed well among white voters. He got 35 percent of the vote among whites, far higher than in deep South states such as Alabama and Mississippi, where he barely won 10 percent of the white vote.

The economy also played a key role - with 60 percent of voters considering it the top issue, with those voters breaking slightly to Obama. The state's manufacturing industry has been devastated by competitive imports, and the state's banking economy centered in Charlotte was struck by economic turmoil that led to the downfall of Wachovia Corp., in the weeks before Election Day.

Carla Williams, 37, a medical reimbursement specialist who's originally from Connecticut and now lives in Raleigh, said she backed Obama for his ability to shake things up in Washington - especially on the economy.

"This is a recession, and anybody who says it's not has got to be crazy," Williams said. People losing their homes, the cost of gas, the cost of food, the jobs that are being lost. We are in a recession. It's time for a change."

Obama's win completed the party's sweep at the top of the North Carolina ticket. Beverly Perdue was elected the state's first female governor, while Kay Hagan unseated one of the GOP's most respected figures in Sen. Elizabeth Dole.