Updated as of 12:25 a.m. on Nov. 6 to include video.
RALEIGH - Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson held a watch party at the City Club in Raleigh for the gubernatorial race.
With the race called for Attorney General Josh Stein, Robinson has conceded the governorship.
Robinson addressed the crowd at 9:04 p.m. saying he is still proud of the work he has done as lieutenant governor of North Carolina in spite of the loss.
“I am the first black lieutenant governor,” Robinson said to the crowd. “I am proud to stand in front of so many supporters. It’s about the state that you love, the state that I fully intend to continue to serve for the next two months.”
Throughout Robinson's address the crowd of supporters cheered for him and thanked him for running in the governor election.
Robinson also highlighted that he plans to do more with the recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina in his remaining time as lieutenant governor.
“We got a lot of work to do in western North Carolina to continue to help those folks,” Robinson said. “In these last two months, we've got a lot of work to do still for the people of North Carolina to do with great energy, same intensity.”
Supporters like Roxanne Wetzel from Alamance County are hesitant to accept the result until every vote is counted.
“There's 100 counties in North Carolina, and many of them have zero reporting done yet,” Wetzel said. “My phone's blowing up because I'm a source of information. I'm telling people to just chill, it’s just in God's hands.”
Ilona Matteson, the Robinson campaign leader for Dare County North Carolina, also remained optimistic following Robinson’s speech.
“I still think there's a chance for him to win,” Matteson said. “I think it's the right thing for North Carolina. And so until it's ‘official’ official, I'm still extremely optimistic.”
Other attendees such as Ron Williams praised Robinson’s character throughout his campaign and in his concession speech.
“He didn't get up there and he didn't destroy the other side,” Williams said. “He didn't talk badly. He didn't say anything about it. He said what was true to his heart, what he felt about doing for our state, his disappointment, not for himself, but for his followers and people who supported him.”
After Robinson left the event, campaign spokesperson Matt Hurley returned for a post-event press conference to answer questions and said he believes the gap between Stein and Robinson will close as the night goes on.
“You're going to continue to see the race tighten up,” Hurley said. “Our margin of victory were different at different times. That's a big challenge about polling, right? It's only a snapshot in a timeline.”
Hurley also said Robinson ran a more issue-based campaign, while Stein focused on attacking the lieutenant governor.
“Josh Stein’s campaign platform was built on fear-mongering,” Hurley said. “We did not do that. Our race was focused on policy, not personality.”
Robinson said following his time as lieutenant governor, he will be taking time for his family and hopes his campaign has inspired his supporters.
“That is the message that we deliver to the people of this state: a true message, a real hope, a real future,” Robinson said. “Where every single solitary North Carolinian, you can make a breakthrough.”