While Democrats succeeded nationally in taking the majority in the House of Representatives along with several governorship around the nation, Union County maintained its position as a Republican stronghold. Republican candidates stayed dominant in NC House and Senate races in the area, Craig Horn being elected for a fifth time to the NC House against challenger Richard Foulke, and Todd Johnson being elected for the first time to the NC Senate after fellow Republican Tommy Tucker announced his retirement last year, defeating Democratic challenger Caroline Walker.

Union County also voted largely for the Republican candidates in the NC Supreme Court race, mainly casting their ballots for Barbara Jackson while a small minority split their vote and voted for the other Republican on the ballot, Chris Anglin, who was a registered Democrat shortly before registering to run. Despite a large majority voting for Jackson in Union County, Anita Earls still garnered enough of the state vote to be elected to the highest court in North Carolina, expanding the Democrat majority on the bench.

The closest race being voted on in Union County was by-and-large the NC 9th Congressional election between Dan McCready and Mark Harris. Harris had large success in Union County, dubbing it his “red wall” and helping majorly in his narrow victory of less than 2,000 votes (of nearly 275,000 votes cast). Harris claimed victory at the stroke of midnight November 6th, while McCready waited until afternoon the following day to officially concede the race. Despite being well within the margin, the McCready campaign did not seek a recount. It’s unclear whether McCready will run for congress again, though the redrawing of congressional districts could boost democrats chances for the 2020 election.

Every NC constitutional amendment up for a referendum vote passed, meaning they will become officially part of North Carolina’s Constitution. You can find a full list and description of each constitutional amendment on a previous Witness article here

Below is a list of every candidate the Witness covered with what percentage of the vote they garnered:

NC House 68th:

Craig Horn –  58.67%

Rick Foulk – 41.33%

NC Senate 35th:

Todd Johnson – 61.67%

Caroline Walker – 38.33%

NC-09 Congressional Election:

Mark Harris – 49.43%

Dan McCready – 48.77%

Jeff Scott – 1.80%

NC Supreme Court:

Anita Earls – 49.45%

Barbara Jackson – 34.15%

Chris Anglin – 16.40%