RALEIGH — The North Carolina governor’s race matchup has been decided: Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Attorney General Josh Stein will face off in the November general election.
Republican Mark Robinson, the first black man to serve as lieutenant governor in the state, cruised to a win with an unofficial vote tally of 663,917, or more than 64%.
Both of Robinson’s primary opponents finished far behind — State Treasurer Dale Folwell had just over 19% of the vote, and businessman Bill Graham finished with 16%.
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Robinson’s bid for governor at a campaign rally in Greensboro the weekend before the Super Tuesday election.
Both the NCGOP and Chairman Michael Whatley praised Robinson’s win. The NCGOP, in a post on X, called Robinson’s win a “historic victory,” and a “man of the people, not the elites.”
Stein, currently in his second term as North Carolina’s attorney general, defeated the four other challengers with just under 70% of the vote with an unofficial 476,448 votes.
Stein’s win was met with congratulatory posts on social media, including a post on X by Gov. Roy Cooper that read, “The work starts now. Let’s come together and do all we can to elect @JoshStein_ as our next Governor.”
North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton congratulated Stein in a statement that read, in part, “As Governor, he will continue delivering for North Carolinians to build a North Carolina with strong public schools, safe communities, and economic opportunity for every person.”
Turnout across the state was lower this presidential election year cycle than it was in 2020 despite the state having more registered voters this year.
Unofficial results show a ballot cast rate of 24.02%. That translates to 1,790,838 out of 7,456,236 possible votes. In 2020, the rate was 31.19% or 2,164,731 votes cast out of 6,940,995 possible votes.
