NC Primary Election 2024: North Carolina Super Tuesday ends with some races still undecided
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A long Super Tuesday filled with voting in North Carolina and 15 other states ended with many races still too close to call.
Voters showed up at nearly 2,600 polling places across the state Tuesday, after around 690,000 people took advantage of early voting opportunities to cast their ballots.
Election results are being tabulated now. However, it could take longer than usual to determine winners this year.
That's because of a newly passed state law that keeps election workers from counting early voting ballots before polls close. Now that polls are closed, election workers can begin counting those early voting ballots, but that means today's in-person ballots will be counted later than usual.
However, exit polling analysis done by ABC News projected that Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Mark Robinson and Josh Stein will win their respective primaries.
The North Carolina primary was well suited for Trump, with 77% of voters identifying themselves as conservatives, half of them "very" conservative, and 52% as white evangelical Christians. More than half, 56% in preliminary exit poll results, don't have a college degree -- with each of these a strong group for Trump. He also benefited from broad anti-immigrant sentiment, with 41% calling it their top issue (vs. 33% who cited the economy) and 62% favoring deportation of most undocumented immigrants. Sixty-three percent said Trump would be fit for office even if convicted of a crime - but even here, a third of Republican primary voters, 32%, said he would not.
According to those same exit poll results, 78% of Nikki Haley voters in the North Carolina Republican presidential primary are unwilling to say they'll support the party's nominee if it is Trump.
There are several other major primary races being decided Tuesday that could have major impacts on the November election.
Governor
On Tuesday night, ABC News projected that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson would win the North Carolina Republican Governor primary based on exit-poll analysis. Shortly afterward, ABC News projected that Attorney General Josh Stein would win the Democratic Governor primary based on analysis of the vote.
As widely expected, the two will battle to succeed term-limited Gov. Roy Cooper.
The general election for governor is expected to be expensive and competitive. Democrats have held the job for all but four years since 1993, even as Republicans have controlled the General Assembly since 2011.
NC-13
In the redrawn North Carolina's 13th Congressional District, more than a dozen candidates are running in the Republican primary.
"The district has been redrawn so that it is basically a safe Republican district," Political Science Professor Steven Greene told ABC11.
Democrat Wiley Nickel held the seat before the maps were redrawn, but he is not running for re-election. The Democratic primary election was canceled, and Frank Pierce will run in the general election for the Democrats in November.
The winner of Tuesday's election will run against Pierce in November. However, it's also possible that none of the Republican candidates receive more than 30% of the vote. If that happens, the top two candidates will likely face off in a runoff primary which would be held in May.
Attorney General
Current Attorney General Josh Stein is running for governor, leaving the job open.
Attorney General is often seen as a stepping stone to the Governor's Mansion in North Carolina.
Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop is running unopposed for the Republican nomination.
After a more heated race on the Democrat's side, U.S. Rep Jeff Jackson came out on top and will advance to the November general election.
After Voting
A voter can see if their ballot was counted by using the Voter Search. The ballot status will show up in the "Voter History" section.
For more information, click here.
North Carolina is considered a swing state, and it could have a major impact on the race to the White House.
For more national Super Tuesday coverage, click here.
