Democrats believe they won enough races in Tuesday’s election to break Republicans’ veto-proof majority in the North Carolina General Assembly, but the total number of seats held by each party remained uncertain Wednesday as some contests appeared to qualify for recounts.
The General Assembly is home to 170 legislative seats: 120 in the House of Representatives and 50 in the Senate. Since last year, Republicans have held 60% of them — known as a supermajority — enabling the GOP to override gubernatorial vetoes when they vote as a bloc. The GOP used that power to bypass vetoes by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to enact laws tightening abortion restrictions, sending more public funds to private schools, and limiting rights of transgender youth.
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Maintaining the supermajority would be critical to GOP lawmakers now that Democrat Josh Stein is bound for the Governor’s Mansion, beating Republican Mark Robinson Tuesday to fill the seat to be vacated by the term-limited Cooper.
Republicans appeared to secure at least 30 seats in the state senate Tuesday, giving them a supermajority in that chamber. Two additional races were too close to call. In the state House of Representatives, the GOP was on track to fall short of the 72 seats it needed — even as some races showed tight margins. The results come despite Republican legislators’ approval of new voting districts last year to give the GOP an advantage in more races.
Election results won’t be finalized until county elections boards review provisional ballots, which are cast and held for review when there's a question about a voter's eligibility. Tens of thousands of provisional ballots remained outstanding Wednesday. After those ballots are processed, which could take several days, candidates in races that are separated by less than 1 percentage point may request a recount.
Several races appeared to be within that margin Wednesday.
In the state House, incumbent Republicans trailed in two races that the GOP would need to keep its supermajority.
Incumbent state Rep. Frank Sossamon trailed Democrat Bryan Cohn by 182 votes, or half of a percentage point, in a district that covers Vance and Granville counties. Sossamon won the district in 2022 by just 732 votes. Sossamon didn’t respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. A spokesman for the House Republican caucus said Wednesday that Sossamon had not conceded because the race was too close to call.
In a district covering Nash and Wilson counties, incumbent state Rep. Ken Fontenot trailed Democrat Dante Pittman by 871 votes, or 2 percentage points. Pittman declared victory Wednesday, thanking supporters in a video he posted to social media.
“We know that we live in a divided nation right now and we are looking forward to having those conversations to bring people together,” Pittman said. “I meant it when I said we are trying to run to represent everyone in this district, and so we are looking forward to partnering with you in any way that we can.”
Fontenot had not conceded as of Wednesday evening. He didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In another Nash County race, incumbent Republican state Rep. Allen Chesser led Democrat Lorenza Wilkins by slightly more than 1 percentage point. Wilkins conceded the race on social media Tuesday night.
In Charlotte, state Rep. Tricia Cotham led Democrat Nicole Sidman by 275 votes. Cotham’s win would be a blow to Democrats, who spent months mounting a campaign to unseat her after she switched parties last year.
Cotham was an outspoken Democrat for years and won her seat in 2022 as a Democrat. Then, in April 2023, Cotham claimed that her moderate positions weren’t welcome in the Democratic Party and abruptly joined the GOP. Cotham’s defection gave Republicans control of 72 seats in the house — enough for the GOP to gain its supermajority.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Sidman had not conceded. In the meantime, Democrats are declaring the GOP supermajority broken.
“The people have spoken. Last night, they decided they want divided government in North Carolina,” House Minority Leader Robert Reives told WRAL.
Stein, who trounced Robinson in Tuesday’s gubernatorial race, called on Republicans to work with Democrats in the legislature. Democrats have complained that Republicans often draft legislation without inviting their input.
“The issues facing our state — rebuilding western North Carolina, creating good jobs, strengthening public schools, ensuring safe neighborhoods, and protecting personal freedoms — are not partisan issues; they are North Carolina issues,” Stein said in a statement. “To build a brighter future for everyone in our state, we must come together across our differences and get to work. I’m ready to go.”
State Rep. Destin Hall, a Caldwell County Republican who’s expected to become House Speaker next year, told reporters Wednesday that he expects the GOP to operate as if it holds a supermajority — even if they fall a seat or two short.
“Whether our final number is 72 (seats) or 71, I'm confident that we're going to have a working supermajority for all intents and purposes,” Hall said in a GOP press conference Wednesday.
Hall referenced years past when Republicans didn’t hold a supermajority, but worked with moderate Democrats to pass budgets and other legislation. “And so I’m looking forward to coming back with my colleagues in the House and continuing to pass conservative legislation,” he said.
In the state senate, Republicans are still monitoring two races that might pad their supermajority in the chamber.
Republican Ashlee Adams led Democratic state Rep. Terence Everitt by 38 votes in a northern Wake County district held by Democratic Sen. Mary Wills Bode, who decided not to seek reelection. In a statement, Everitt said he’s monitoring the vote counts and has not conceded because the race is too close to call.
“While we may not know the official result for a few days, I am deeply grateful to the voters and
volunteers for their support and to the election workers who are working to ensure all votes are
counted accurately,” he said.
In Mecklenburg County, Democrat Woodson Bradley led Republican Stacie McGinn by 27 votes for the seat vacated by Democratic Sen. Rachel Hunt, who won the race for lieutenant governor on Tuesday. In a statement, McGinn said her race was too close to call and that she would be monitoring absentee and provisional ballots in the coming days.
Senate Leader Phil Berger told reporters Wednesday that he expected Republicans to win at least one of the races. “We have in the Senate a solid supermajority, and I believe that after the canvas and the recount process, we very likely will build on that,” Berger said.
County boards of elections will certify their results at public meetings on Nov. 15. In contests under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Elections, a recount demand must be received by the board by noon on Nov. 19. The state canvass is Nov. 26.
The Robinson effect?
Democrats tried to defeat Republicans by tying them to Robinson, whose comments in support of tighter abortion restrictions played a role in his 15-percentage-point loss Tuesday night.
Republican legislators last year replaced a law allowing abortion up to the 20th week of pregnancy with one banning most abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. Democrats warned voters that Republican leaders would pursue more restrictive abortion laws — and they spent millions of dollars on campaign ads featuring statements by Robinson.
Twenty-nine percent of Republicans and 42% of unaffiliated voters oppose a six-week ban, according to a WRAL News Poll conducted in September. Unaffiliated voters make up North Carolina’s biggest voting bloc, and many vote with Republicans.
Democrats aired attack ads against Republicans that featured some of Robinson’s comments on abortion. During a Facebook Live stream in 2019, Robinson said women who get abortions were “not responsible enough to keep your skirt down.” During an appearance on a radio show in February 2023, Robinson said that, if he were governor and if the legislature were willing, he could sign a bill saying that people “can’t have an abortion for any reason.”
Fontenot and Sossamon were allies of Robinson. In a March 10 Facebook video, downplayed criticism of Robinson’s abortion comments and referred to Robinson as “a force to be reckoned with.” Sossamon faced attacks for continuing to campaign with Robinson after a Sept. 19 CNN report alleged that Robinson, using an alias, described himself as a Nazi and made sexist and racist remarks on a pornographic website. Robinson has denied the allegations and sued CNN for defamation.
After CNN published its article, many Republicans tried to distance themselves from Robinson. Cohn circulated a photo of Sossamon attending a campaign event for Robinson on Oct. 16, saying: “The whole world saw Mark Robinson for who he really was and got as far from him as possible. Not Rep. Frank Sossamon.”
Prior to the election, Republican leaders said their internal research showed that Robinson-related attacks had no significant effect on legislative races. On Wednesday, Berger and Hall acknowledged those attacks likely played a role.
Hall noted that Robinson’s poor polling performance allowed Stein’s campaign to transfer about $12 million to the state Democratic Party. The party, in turn, spent a lot of that money on legislative races.
“There’s no question that moved the needle,” Hall said. “The Democrats were able to outspend [Republicans] because they had that extra money, especially at the end.”
Still, Hall said the GOP’s performance — coming very close to a supermajority — is a testament to its policies in the state.
“Even though they bought these huge TV [advertising] buys and had all the money in the world behind them, they were just barely able to, potentially, get us down to 71 [seats],” Hall said. “We'll see if that's where we actually land.”