ELECTION RESULTS: Stein wins early in the governor’s race, Hunt wins lieutenant governor

Featured photo: Attorney General Josh Stein won the race for governor of NC on Tuesday evening, beating Republican Mark Robinson after the latter had disastrous press coverage in the months leading up to Election Day. (file photo)

The Associated Press called the NC governor’s race before 9 p.m., with Democrat Attorney General Josh Stein ahead of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson by more than 10 points and fewer than 30 percent of counties reporting. It was the first race in the state to be called. As votes trickled in, outside candidates picked off almost 5 percent of the vote, as Libertarian Mike Ross led the pack with about 3 percent, while Constitution Party’s Vinny Smith and Green Party candidate Wayne Turner landing less than a point apiece

At the time the election was called, Stein had seemingly won Guilford and Forsyth counties, with strong support in the Triangle, several northeastern counties and the cluster of western counties. Robinson, who is from Greensboro, suffered from disastrous press coverage in the weeks leading up to the election that revealed his penchant for pornography in comments on the porn site NudeAfrica.com.

“We chose hope over hate,” he said in his remarks after the race was called, “competence over chaos, decency over division.”

In the race for lieutenant governor, Democrat Rachel Hunt and Republican Hal Weatherman separated early from Libertarian Shannon Bray and Constitution Party’s Wayne Jones, who collectively captured less than 3 percent of the vote. Hunt and Weatherman traded places throughout the night, but as the state’s largest cities began reporting results, Hunt, daughter of former NC Gov. Jim Hunt, pulled ahead.

Weatherman conceded at 11:30 p.m. with 47.3 percent of the vote, compared to Hunt’s 49.9, about 135,000 votes ahead. Bray managed less than 2 percent of the vote, while Jones got less than 1 percent.