HUGE news – last night, the outcomes of two extremely narrow races in North Carolina flipped when all valid absentee and provisional ballots were counted, with major implications.
Both the NC Supreme Court race and Senate District 18 flipped from counting provisional ballots. #northcarolina
— Carolina Forward (@carolinaforward.bsky.social) November 16, 2024 at 7:22 AM
We are in recount land on two important state races in North Carolina. Both have Democrats inching ahead by less than the enrollment count of a freshman year survey course in a large lecture hall.
The Riggs race is important for if she wins, there is a reasonable pathway that does not involve meteor strikes for Democrats to regain a majority on the state Supreme Court by 2028. There will be a lot of hard work between now and then.
So in the next day or so, get ready to start sending money for the recount lawyers in North Carolina.
AM in NC
My friends sent this info around this morning and we are SO excited. The remaining ballots to be counted are also from more blue counties, so fingers crossed this holds.
And yes, get ready to fight the NCGOP fuckery that is surely coming.
Fair Economist
Good to read good news!
dc
I am so pleased, I canvassed for Everitt with Neighbors on Call and for Riggs specifically with Flip NC. Of course when I was canvassing in Durham, I was always also canvassing for Riggs and the whole statewide Dem ticket. Both Wake and Granville Counties (Everitt’s district) are done counting. But there are several smaller counties that are not done yet. This may affect Riggs, she went down from over a over 100 vote lead last night to just a 24 vote lead this morning. All hands on deck for her, there will be a recount. I expect there will be a recount for Everitt’s state senate race too, but I am confident in his lead.
NC has a very user friendly State Board of Elections site, results here: https://er.ncsbe.gov/
AM in NC
@dc: Oh yikes. I thought there were still more outstanding ballots from larger, bluer counties.
What a nail-biter. Insert sad/screaming emoji here
dc
@AM in NC: Provisional ballots are more likely Democrat (I believe), there are Democratic voters in all these counties, one is Halifax, which is majority African American.
tobie
Thanks for the heads up about this, David. Good news is much appreciated these days. It keeps the fighting spirit alive.
SiubhanDuinne
Will Water Girl (or you) be setting up a thermometer for this?
AM in NC
@dc: Thanks for the info!
lowtechcyclist
Money, lawyers – what, no guns? 😏
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne:
I think that was probably more of a rhetorical statement than a literal one.
All the ballots will need to be counted and the recount determination will be made, then the recount has to happen. I doubt that the recount itself will cost money that would need to be raised.
Often attorneys for this are pro bono, but we are a long way away from needing funds for attorneys.
I took David’s post to be saying that we are clearly in recount territory, and both sides are gonna fight like hell, and there will be lawyers.
cmorenc
But-for the Rs flipping the NC Supreme Court last election, and reversing a redistricting decision made while Ds had a majority on the court, the Ds would have a narrow majority in the federal HOR rather than the Rs. The reversal and R-gerrymandered redoing of district lines cost the Ds four seats. And so yes, having a baseline of 2 Ds on the Court is essential to making it more feasible to re-flip the Court over the next court election cycles.
cmorenc
I may be counting the additional seat NC picked up in census reallocation in the 4 lost D seats due to R majority state SCt.
dc
NC had 7 Dems and 7 Repubs (pretty much representative of how the state votes) this current Congress. It will have only 4 Dems and 10 Repubs the coming Congress precisely because we lost control of the State Supreme Court in 2022. In 2020 process of losing the State Supreme Court started and was completed in 2022. Upon getting that Repub majority and the super majority again in the General Assembly, the Congressional districts were re-gerrymandered and here we are.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
Thanks. I was being literal-minded.
Parfigliano
Kamala has money leftover and is still e-mail begging for more. Just saying.
randy khan
It’s always nice to see a Libertarian candidate helping the Dem out.
randy khan
@lowtechcyclist:
Wrong site!
randy khan
@Parfigliano:
But the Republicans insist she overspent and is in debt.
(As you might suspect, mentioning to them that Trump was in debt after the 2020 election does not move them.)
Melancholy Jaques
@Parfigliano:
That’s on this list of things we need to change.
randy khan
@WaterGirl:
Maybe not in the paying for lawyers stage yet, but if either race ends up with a double digit margin, there’s a good chance there will be a lawsuit or two, and maybe even if the margin is bigger.
WaterGirl
@randy khan: Not sure what you mean by “double digit margin”.
It seems to me that could be taken 2 ways. Can you clarify?
randy khan
@WaterGirl:
Votes, not percentage. Sorry – it was ambiguous.
bjacques
@randy khan: send lawyers, bûns, and money!
mrmoshpotato
@bjacques: Bûns?
Renie
Nice to hear this esp since I did 400 postcards to voters in NC