RALEIGH, N.C. — The election to lead North Carolina’s judicial branch faced a likely recount after county tallies showed an extremely close race between current state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley and challenger Paul Newby.
Canvassed results reported Friday from most of the counties show the Democrat Beasley and Republican Newby neck and neck after nearly 5.4 million votes cast in the race were counted. Recounts can occur if the trailing candidate is behind by 10,000 votes or less. The county results also confirmed victories for Republican Phil Berger Jr. to the Supreme Court and for two Democrats who beat state House Republicans.
With North Carolina’s final votes showing the race for the Chief Justice seat remaining razor thin, the Beasley campaign manager Benjamin Woods released the following statement:
“Chief Justice Beasley is honored and grateful for the trust voters across North Carolina have placed in her. While there is likely a longer process ahead of us, one that requires patience and faith in our election process, we are confident Chief Justice Beasley will remain the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court in January.”