Why AP called North Carolina for Trump
Republican voters in North Carolina cast ballots in greater numbers than four years ago, while Democratic turnout sagged
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican voters in North Carolina cast ballots in greater numbers than four years ago, while Democratic turnout sagged. Together, those two factors carried Donald Trump to victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, marking the third time he has carried the swing state.
While Trump has consistently won North Carolina, his victory over Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 was much narrower — just over 1%. This year Trump held a 2.8 percentage point lead when The Associated Press called the race for him at 11:18 p.m. ET once it became clear that there weren't enough outstanding votes left in Democratic-leaning areas for Harris to overtake his lead.
To understand why Harris did not do as well as Biden in the state, consider Nash and New Hanover counties.
Hillary Clinton lost Nash County, which is east of Raleigh, but Biden flipped it four years later. This year, Trump carried it by 2 percentage points when the race was called. Meanwhile, Harris was winning in New Hanover County, which is home to Wilmington, but she did not do as well as Biden did in 2020.
