Why AP called the North Carolina governor's race for Josh Stein
A massive lead gained from votes cast before Election Day helped deliver victory to North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat
WASHINGTON (AP) — A massive lead gained from votes cast before Election Day helped deliver victory to North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat who handily defeated Republican Mark Robinson, the state's scandal-plagued lieutenant governor.
Two factors were largely responsible for Stein's win. First, most of the state's votes were cast before Election Day — roughly three-quarters — and Stein won those by more than 16 percentage points. And while Robinson held an early lead when it came to votes cast on Election Day, the vast majority of ballots left to be counted were in population-dense Democratic areas.
When The Associated Press called the race for Stein at 8:50 p.m., he was not only winning Democratic regions of the state, but also held a commanding lead in battleground areas while eating into Robinson's margins in Republican parts of the state.
The outcome wasn't exactly a surprise. Robinson had been dogged by incendiary comments he had made in the past, including frequent posts he made to a pornography website's message board, which were unearthed during the campaign.
