NORTH CAROLINA: Dems Demand That Pat McCrory Concede As Roy Cooper Names Transition Team

The Charlotte Observer reports:



In a coordinated public appeal, Rep. Tricia Cotham Monday joined Democratic lawmakers across the state in calling on Gov. Pat McCrory to concede the gubernatorial election. “I understand it’s hard to lose,” she said outside the Mecklenburg County board of elections. “McCrory needs to be a statesman and do what the voters wanted and concede this race.”

The governor currently trails Democratic Attorney general Roy Cooper by 6,600 votes out of 4.7 million cast, according to the state elections board. On Election Day he trailed by around 5,000.

Meanwhile, Cooper named a transition team Monday. The governor has contested votes in over half of North Carolina’s 100 counties. The protests were one reason county boards delayed their official canvasses, which had been scheduled for last Friday.

In a setback for McCrory, the state elections board Sunday denied a request by the governor’s team for the board to take jurisdiction over the county ballot reviews. The one exception was in Bladen County, where McCrory is protesting several hundred absentee ballots.

In a video released Sunday, Cooper said, “Gov. McCrory is doing everything he can to undermine the results of this election and the will of the people. But we won’t let him.”