Updated as of 1:46 a.m. on Nov. 6 to include video.
RALEIGH - As of 8:56 p.m., AP News has called North Carolina’s governor race in favor of Democratic candidate and Attorney General Josh Stein. With 23% of the votes counted, Stein has a 52.7% lead. Robinson has 42.6% of the vote.
After the results came in, Gov. Roy Cooper introduced Stein onto the main stage. Stein began by thanking his supporters. As he walked onto the stage, the crowd erupted into applause and its energy reverberated across the room.
“Tonight, the people of North Carolina resoundingly embraced a vision that’s optimistic, forward-looking and welcoming,” Stein said during the event. “A vision that’s about creating opportunities for every North Carolinian. We chose hope over hate. Competence over chaos. Decency over division. That’s who we are as North Carolinians.”
Stein promised to provide aid to those in western North Carolina who are recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
“As we celebrate tonight, our hearts are with the folks of western North Carolina who are still struggling,” Stein said to the crowd. “We will show up for the people of western North Carolina to help them rebuild safer and stronger than ever before.”
Stein also promised to cut taxes, increase teacher pay and expand career and technical education, while also emphasizing that these are North Carolinian issues, not partisan ones.
“We will go forward — not as Republicans, not as Democrats, not as independents — but as North Carolinians,” Stein said.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein takes the stage at his watch party Nov. 5 in Raleigh, after AP News called the race for Stein, with only 30% of North Carolina votes counted.
While Stein expressed his gratitude to everyone he met on the campaign trail and his most devoted supporters, he also reached out to voters who didn’t vote for him.
“If I didn’t earn your vote in this election, I hope to earn your trust by working hard for you as your governor,” Stein said. “I pledge to listen and work across party lines to do what’s right for North Carolina because no person or party has a monopoly on good ideas.”
Before Stein came onto the stage, Cooper expressed his gratitude for being able to serve North Carolina. He acknowledged that many results have yet to come in, but emphasized the importance of Stein’s victory.
“We have done something important here with this victory in the governor’s race,” Cooper said. “Every election gives us choices and there’s never been a wider gulf between the choices in this race.”
Cooper also praised Stein and said he is confident he will succeed as governor.
“We needed a person who will blaze his own trails, and we got that tonight,” Stein said. “He is ready to do this job and do it right. He has the steady hand, the clear eyed vision and the servant’s heart to make North Carolina stronger than ever.”
Anderson Clayton, the North Carolina Democratic Party chair, also spoke to the Raleigh crowd. She thanked supporters, campaign staff members and organizers.
“We have helped make a year-round organizing vision for this party possible, one that has led to momentous successes across this state, and you all have had such a huge part of that,” Clayton said.
Clayton also emphasized that the work of the party isn’t over.
“I hope you won’t stop, because we’ve got municipal races in 2025 and we’re looking to make sure that North Carolina stays the direction that we’re going to make it so tonight,” Clayton said.
As of 8:15 p.m., the event is in full swing, accompanied by music and food. Droves of people, almost 100 so far, are piling in to see Stein and other Democratic politicians speak later. Gil Genn, a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates who now lives in North Carolina, is at the event and said he is most excited to see a transition from the old to the new tonight.
“I’m most excited about turning the page from going down the path of an autocracy with dictatorial tendencies and turning the page forward for a new vision for rule of law, for saving democracy and changing our economic opportunities for all,” Genn told Elon News Network.
Genn said he believes Stein will protect the rights of North Carolinians, along with improving economic development.
“In terms of economic development and business, he will know how to prosecute those who are abusing the system, and he’s going to do a heck of a lot, I think, for our public school system and try to increase teacher pay,” Genn said.
Former Burlington Mayor Ian Baltutis, who is attending the watch party, said he believes Stein will be accessible to members of any county, even Alamance County.
“We were delighted that he spent so much time in Alamance County,” Baltutis said. “We used to be this little flyover county where all the Democrats running for office didn’t think they could get folks to vote.”
Former Burlington Mayor Ian Baltutis at the North Carolina Democratic Party Watch Party on Nov. 5.