Josh Stein, Cheri Beasley ahead in North Carolina races, some counties still need to finish canvasses

All of the ballots submitted in North Carolina via absentee, provisional, early voting and Election Day voting had to be certified by county board of elections on Friday.

However, the State Board of Elections said in a statement on Sunday that "there are some counties that still must complete their canvasses because they did not finish on Friday. There are additional ballots to be added."

As of Friday, the unofficial counts for some of the major races were as follows:

President: Donald Trump (2,757,112) vs. Joe Biden (2,683,787)
Attorney General: Josh Stein (2,712,780) vs. Jim O'Neill (2,698,444)
Supreme Court Chief Justice: Cheri Beasley (2,694,809) vs. Paul Newby (2,694,774)

The election to lead North Carolina's judicial branch is likely headed for a recount.

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State law allows for the trailing candidate in a statewide race to seek a machine recount - basically running ballots again through tabulator machines - when the margin is 10,000 votes or less. The recount would be completed before the state board completes its canvass and certifies results on Nov. 24.

In a race for Supreme Court associate justice, Republican Phil Berger Jr. defeated Democrat Lucy Inman.

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Berger, the son of Senate leader Phil Berger, will serve in the associate justice seat currently held by Newby. Both Berger and Inman are Court of Appeals judges. Inman still has two years in her Court of Appeals term. Berger's elevation means that Cooper will appoint a replacement for Berger's Court of Appeals seat to serve through 2022.

Berger's victory marks the second Republican election win on the state's highest court this year. Tamara Barringer already defeated incumbent Justice Mark Davis. Democrats will hold four or five seats on the seven-member court, depending on the chief justice outcome.

Results in three outstanding state House races also mean two incumbents won't return to Raleigh in January.

GOP Reps. Stephen Ross of Alamance County and Perrin Jones of Pitt County narrowly lost their seats to Democrats. Ricky Hurtado edged the four-term legislator Ross and Brian Farkas defeated Jones, who was in his first term. Republican Rep. John Szoka of Cumberland County survived a challenge from Democrat Frances Jackson.

In the lone outstanding state Senate race, first-term Sen. Harper Peterson of New Hanover County conceded late Friday to Republican Michael Lee. Totals on Friday showed Lee slightly ahead of Peterson. Lee held the seat in 2018 when Peterson, a Democrat, beat him.

Republicans already had preserved their House and Senate majorities for another two years on election night. Friday's additional called races mean Republicans will hold 69 of the 120 House seats - compared to 65 during the current session. With a Lee victory, the GOP would hold 28 of the 50 Senate seats. Republicans currently hold 29 seats.