Bringing The World Home To You

© 2024 WUNC North Carolina Public Radio
120 Friday Center Dr
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
919.445.9150 | 800.962.9862
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Stories and features about North Carolina candidates, voters, and the politics of the 2014 mid-term elections. Polls are open across N.C. until 7:30 p.m. on election day, November 4.

This Is The One Race In The NC General Assembly That Will Go To A Re-Count

Photo of Republican John Alexander and Democrat Tom Bradshaw
Alexander for NC Senate, Tom Bradshaw for NC Senate

Former Raleigh Mayor Tom Bradshaw requested a recount on Monday afternoon in his race for the North Carolina Senate against Republican John Alexander, with 701 votes separating them in the closest General Assembly contest this year.

Alexander led Bradshaw by .86 percent in a race with a turn-out of about 82,000 voters, according to certified Wake County Board of Elections results.
 

While a large majority of the state electoral districts are comfortably Republican, the closeness of this race underscores that a handful of seats in purple swaths on the map such as Wake County are hotly contested.

Other closely fought races leading up to Nov. 4 were in Wake County: incumbent Republican Sen. Chad Barefoot’s win against Democratic challenger Sarah Crawford and Democratic Cary Councilwoman Gail Adock’s win over incumbent Republican Rep. Tom Murry.

Bradshow, an investment banker and lobbyist who served as Raleigh mayor and state transportation secretary in the 1970s, ran an aggressive campaign against Alexander, raising and spending more than $1 million in advertisements that sought to link Alexander with controversial environmental and education votes made by the Republican majority this year. In return, the state Republican party sent voters mail criticizing Bradshaw, calling him a “Wall Street lobbyist.”

In a letter to supporters on Monday, Bradshaw said he has confidence the final results of the re-count will be accurate.

“I have heard from many supporters who feel strongly that we should ask for a recount to ensure the accuracy of the election results,” Bradshaw wrote.

Alexander said in a phone interview that he welcomes a re-count to confirm who got the most votes.

“And if the re-count shows that he got more votes than I did, I'll salute him and wish him the best,” Alexander said.

Bradshaw and Alexander publicly say they’re long-time friends and have worked together for community non-profits such as the YMCA of the Triangle. If Alexander holds his lead, the Republican party will have 34-16 majority in the Senate, comfortably keeping its veto-proof super majority over Democrats. 

Jorge Valencia has been with North Carolina Public Radio since 2012. A native of Bogotá, Colombia, Jorge studied journalism at the University of Maryland and reported for four years for the Roanoke Times in Virginia before joining the station. His reporting has also been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald, and the Baltimore Sun.
More Stories