Though the gubernatorial race here in North Carolina didn’t go the way Republicans wanted it to (Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper won reelection to a second term), Republicans in the state had a very good night in other races.

It was such an impressive night here for the GOP that it will give the Democrats who have put increased efforts (and million$) into turning North Carolina solidly blue instead of the reddish-purple it is now nightmares in the months and years to come.

Though there are some legislative races that are still outstanding as of this writing, their outcome will not change the fact that the state house and senate will remain in Republican hands, giving them control over the next round of redistricting:

ICYMI, looks to me like NC House shaping up to be 69 GOP, 51 Dem. Dem net -4.

NC Senate: looks to be 28 GOP, 22 Dem. Dems net +1

Caveat, close races could shift w/ outstanding mail-in ballots & Provisionals.

GOP will have sole control over redistricting again in NC #NCPOL

— Jonathan Kappler (@jonathankappler) November 4, 2020

Republicans keep control of North Carolina legislative chambers, will get to draw districts for next decade #ncpol https://t.co/mLtPx20QpJ

— Gary Robertson (@garydrobertson) November 4, 2020

The importance of the GOP wins/holds on these seats cannot be overstated. President Obama’s former attorney general Eric Holder and Democrat super-lawyer Marc Elias both have relentlessly targeted the state in recent years in efforts to flip the General Assembly to blue so they could be the ones controlling the redistricting process.

Though Democrats have sometimes won lawsuits at the federal court level against Republican redistricting efforts, the good news here is that it will still be Republicans in the driver’s seat when it comes time to draw the maps.

The especially delicious part about these GOP wins and their maintaining of their hold on the North Carolina legislature is that the wins came even after all the lawsuits and drama state Democrats and their in-state and out-of-state allies caused over the last round of Republican redistricting (including Holder’s and Elias’ shenanigans). This tweet from former Democratic state senator Joel Ford, says it all:

Reminder: Maps Were Drawn by Democratic Mapmaker, Amended Only by Dem Legislators, and Passed with Majority-Dem Support
For second time in 10 years, Republicans won majorities under maps drawn by Democrats. #ncpol #ncga

— Joel Ford (@joeldford) November 4, 2020

Understandably, NC Senate Republicans took some victory laps in the aftermath:

“Every political prognosticator considered the N.C. Senate to be up for grabs. Because of Sen. Phil Berger’s leadership, it’s not even close." #ncpol #ncga https://t.co/8dzsDqXRzR

— NC Senate Republicans (@MyNCSenate) November 4, 2020

In a statement tonight. NC Sen. leader Phil Berger says election results showing GOP has retained legislative majority indicates voters support Republican platform of "expanded school choice." #nced #ncpol #ncga #Election2020 https://t.co/4JBMdIW0jI

— Keung Hui (@nckhui) November 4, 2020

On top of that, Republicans gained big ground in judicial races as well. Pending the results of the remaining 117,000 outstanding absentee ballots yet to be accounted for, there’s a good possibility that they’ve changed the make-up of the state Supreme Court from 6-1 Democrat to 4-3 Democrat, with a Republican potentially being the Chief Justice:

Current NC Supreme Court is 6 Dem, 1 GOP.

If Chief Justice Beasley eeks out a win, it'll be 5 Dem, 2 GOP.

If she loses, it'll be 4 Dem, 3 GOP. #NCPOL

— Jonathan Kappler (@jonathankappler) November 4, 2020

There was good news for Republicans on Court of Appeals races as well:

In NC Court of Appeals, which are statewide races, GOP wins all 5 races. GOP will have a majority on the NC Court of Appeals, it had been an 8-7 Dem majority. #NCPOL

— Jonathan Kappler (@jonathankappler) November 4, 2020

As I noted earlier, state and national Democrats have been relentlessly trying to turn North Carolina solidly blue for years now, as they did with Virginia. Last night’s results show that their efforts are not succeeding.

There’s one more big race a Republican won here in North Carolina last night. My RedState colleague Jeff Charles will have much more on that news coming up here shortly (Update: Here’s the link to his report).

As to the presidential race here in NC, it’s still too close to call with President Trump currently holding a 77,000 vote lead over Joe Biden. In the U.S. Senate race between Sen. Thom Tillis and his Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham, Tillis leads by 97,000. I’ll have more of an update on the developments in that race in my next post, as the state board of elections will be holding a conference call later this afternoon to discuss the issue of the outstanding 117,000 absentee ballots – which is what is keeping these and some other races in the state from being called.

Stay tuned!