Election Night Update, 12:30 a.m.
North Carolina has turned blue in 2008.
With only a few precincts left to report results, Barack Obama appears headed to a tiny victory in the state. He is currently ahead of John McCain by about 13,000 votes out of more than 4 million cast. That narrow margin should be enough to give Obama the state’s 15 electoral votes — mere gravy for his landslide victory nationwide.
Democrats prevailed in nearly all the other statewide races. In addition to Bev Perdue and Kay Hagan in the races for governor and U.S. Senate, Democrats made gains on the Council of State, the 10-person group made up of North Carolina’s statewide elected officials in the executive branch. Democrat Beth Wood ousted Republican Les Merritt in the state auditor’s race, and Republican Cherie Berry, the incumbent labor commission, is locked in a dead heat with Democrat Mary Fant Donnan, of Winston-Salem. That race is too close to call.
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, the Republican who represents Northwest North Carolina, has won re-election.
Check JournalNow for updated results. Trail Mix is now going to get a drink (or three) and get some sleep. The post-mortems begin in the morning.
