Democrats win key downballot races in North Carolina despite Trump win

North Carolina was the first swing state called Tuesday for President-elect Donald Trump, but further down the ballot, Democrats had more reasons to celebrate than Republicans.

Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, 51.1%-47.7%, in the Tar Heel State. However, in the gubernatorial contest between Democratic state Attorney General Josh Stein and Republican state Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, Stein trounced Robinson, 54.8%-40.2%.

Democrats were also victorious in the lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and superintendent of public institution races. Republicans held onto the state agriculture, insurance, and labor commissioners offices, along with the state treasurer’s office. The lone flip for Republicans in statewide races came with the state auditor, while Democrats nabbed the lieutenant governor’s office.

The key loss for Republicans came in the state legislature, where they kept their supermajority in the state Senate but failed to hold their supermajority in the state House. Democrats have held the governor’s office since 2017, but the loss of the supermajority means Stein will have effective veto power.

Many of the bills passed by Republicans in state legislature in recent sessions were vetoed by outgoing-Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC), but because of the supermajority, were overridden and put into law.

“In spite of the GOP’s best effort to draw the most aggressive gerrymander in the country, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans came together to break the supermajority and hand the veto pen to Governor-elect Stein,” the North Carolina Democratic Party said in a post on X.

In one of the key districts for control of the federal House, North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, Rep. Don Davis (D-NC) defeated Republican Laurie Buckhout. The loss in the redrawn district with a slight GOP tilt made Republican efforts to hold the lower chamber of Congress less certain, as results in other districts nationwide are still outstanding.

The GOP’s lackluster showing on the ballot, with the exception of Trump, was blamed by some on Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign, which was embroiled in controversy throughout the cycle. A report by NBC News had several political operatives on both sides of the aisle pointing to Robinson’s failed campaign to Democrats’ downballot performance.

In the 2026 midterm elections, North Carolina will likely have one of the most hotly contested Senate races, when Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is up for reelection. Democrats will likely make it a top target as they seek to regain the Senate majority they lost in Tuesday’s election.