Democrat Roy Cooper claimed victory
early Wednesday in his bid to unseat Governor Pat McCrory.
“We have won this race for governor,”
he told supporters after midnight. “I'm glad you stayed.”
While the race has yet to be called,
Cooper leads with a few thousand votes.
McCrory said that he will wait for an
official tally before making a statement. Those results will not be
released for ten days, 11
Eyewitness News reported.
“We've got to respect the election
system,” he said.
McCrory signed and strongly defended a
law that targets the LGBT community. House Bill 2 blocks cities and
municipalities from enacting LGBT protections and is the only state
law that prohibits transgender people from using the bathroom of
their choice.
Cooper has condemned the law and vowed
to repeal it if elected.