(The Center Square) – Republican Donald Trump carried North Carolina on Tuesday, earning 16 electoral college votes in his bid to reclaim the White House against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump clinched the 270 needed to win early Wednesday morning.
Multiple outlets called the first battleground decision just before 10 p.m. The Associated Press called it not long after 11 p.m.
The nation’s 45th president campaigned in the state Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday ahead of the election, opting for locations across the state including less populated eastern North Carolina cities Rocky Mount and Kinston.
With 100% of precincts reporting and voter turnout at 73%, or more than 5.6 million, Trump prevailed 51%-47.6%. Voter turnout was just under 69% in 2016 and more than 75% four years ago during the COVID-19 era.
Trump won the toss-up state considered purple that has had a Republican governor only three times since Daniel Lindsay Russell won the 1896 election. And it won’t have one the next four years, though Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s downfall early in the return of results did not appear to be damaging other statewide candidates.
Or the presidential race.
Harris had expected edges in the metro areas like Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro. The bulk of the state, however, was awash in red counties.
In one sterling example, the century-old tradition of Anson County along the South Carolina border just east of Charlotte going Democratic for president was a 50.9%-48.2% win for Trump. He’s the second Republican since the Civil War to win the county with population better than 40% Black.
Heading into Election Day, politicos were keen to see if he scored with Black voters. When President Joe Biden won four years ago, nationally he snagged 92% of the respective voting bloc. Polling in October suggested Trump might win 15% in the state.
Since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, the only Democrats in 15 election cycles to win the state are Jimmy Carter (1976) and Barack Obama (2008). Neither repeated four years later.
Trump’s third win breaks the tie for most times a Republican has won the state on a post-Civil War short list with George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon and Ulysses S. Grant.
Trump’s 191,627-vote win, or 3.39%, is middle of his first two triumphs.
In 2020, Trump won North Carolina 49.9%-48.6% over the ticket of Biden and Harris. In 2016, Trump won the state 49.8%-46.2% over the ticket of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine.
Trump outperformed the September and October polls each time. This year, he was clear – about 5% – of Biden in spring and summer. Biden quit the race on July 21, and Harris had a brief honeymoon period in the polls before Trump held modest leads that inched forward since Labor Day.
The 78-year-old Trump campaigned on a 20-point platform, led by a return to enforcement of securing national borders. He chastised the Democrats for inflation that at 2.4% is nearly double – from 1.4% – when he left office in January 2021, yet is considerably lower than the 9.1% high of June 2022. Energy independence and “manufacturing superpower” are also top five calling cards for voters.
The 60-year-old Harris, second in command to President Joe Biden, sought a promotion on top issues of an opportunity economy and lower costs for families. Tax cuts for the middle class, affordable rent and home ownership, and growth by small businesses also topped her list. On abortion she favored federal regulation over state authority, meaning a return to Roe v. Wade.
