In North Carolina, two heavy favorites were named victors shortly after polls closed to the margin of their lead in their respective party primary races. Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein will move on to the general election battle to become the Tar Heel state’s next governor.
With 27% of the votes in, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson had 63.1% of Republican votes, putting him more than 40 points ahead of his next two closest competitors – Dale Folwell (18.8%) and Bill Graham (18.1%). In the Democratic Party, with 25% of the vote in, Josh Stein was already on pace to a landslide victory, with 73.1% of the vote to Michael Morgan’s 13.2% and Chrelle Booke’s 5.7%.
For the past eight years, Democrat Roy Cooper, a moderate Democrat, governed among that may serve as the ultimate example of the nation’s intensifying polarization, particularly between urban metro areas vs. suburban and rural sectors of the state.
North Carolina’s Democratic Party won offices of governor, secretary of state, and attorney general, but the Republican Party controls both chambers of the state legislature.
Since 2004, O’Hern has worked with political campaigns in roles ranging from major projects involving nationwide digital marketing for U.S. Presidential candidates, U.S. Congressmen, state governors, and state representatives. O’Hern’s journalism background includes news reporting and editing for various organizations and news publications in Alabama and Florida since 2002. O’Hern graduated from Samford University in Birmingham, Ala with a degree in journalism and a minor in political science.