--- description: North Carolina's Republican Gov. Pat McCrory is refusing to concede after a battle for reelection has left him more than 6,000 votes behind title: North Carolina's Republican Governor Is Refusing to Concede image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a2a793338d8bbb3/6988af47f887dcb7dae9848f/gettyimages-185519186.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # North Carolina's Republican Governor Is Refusing to Concede by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 21, 2016 6:34 PM CUT  North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat. Raleigh News & Observer—MCT via Getty Images North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat. Raleigh News & Observer—MCT via Getty ImagesRaleigh News & Observer—MCT via Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 21, 2016 6:34 PM CUT [North Carolina](http://time.com/money/4499488/north-carolina-hb2-bathroom-bill-losing-business/ "undefined") [Gov. Pat McCrory ](http://time.com/4453425/north-carolina-voter-id-pat-mccrory-supreme-court/ "undefined")is refusing to concede after an extremely close battle for reelection has left him more than 6,000 votes behind his challenger, Democrat Roy Cooper. The Republican incumbent has lodged complaints in at least 50 counties about voting irregularities across the state, including votes from the dead, votes from felons and voters who cast ballots in multiple states,[ the Raleigh _News & Observer_ reports](http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article116048243.html "undefined"). He has called for a recount, which he is allowed to do since the margin of votes is less than 10,000, but elections officials in at least three counties have rejected his request, [North Carolina radio station WFAE reports](http://wfae.org/post/cooper-stretches-lead-mccrory-complaints-dismissed "undefined"). The largest complaint was aimed at the Democratic-leaning Durham County; officials unanimously dismissed that complaint on Friday. The state’s Board of Elections[ voted Sunday](https://twitter.com/NCSBE/status/800504980985774080 "undefined") to meet on the issue this week. According to the [Associated Press](http://abc11.com/politics/nc-board-of-elections-votes-to-reconvene-tuesday/1616803/ "undefined"), Republican state board member Rhonda Amoroso has urged a prompt response to the complaints because hearing about them could lead citizens to believe there is a “systemic issue here of fraudulent voter activities.” An elections attorney for Cooper told the [_News & Observer_](http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article115729818.html "undefined")that the Democrat’s lead is insurmountable. “This race has simply gotten away from Pat McCrory,” attorney Marc Elias said. “More North Carolinians voted for Roy Cooper than Pat McCrory, and did so by a close but significant margin. There is nothing Gov. McCrory or his legal team are going to be able to do to undo what is just basic math.” As governor, McCrory made national headlines for his staunch defense of a [controversial law](http://time.com/4314896/transgender-bathroom-bill-male-predators-argument/ "undefined") that limited transgender people’s access to public restrooms. The law, known as HB2, led companies, sports teams and celebrities to boycott the state. \[[_News & Observer_](http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article115729818.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4578771/north-carolina-governor-pat-mccrory/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4578771/north-carolina-governor-pat-mccrory/"},"headline":"North Carolina's Republican Governor Is Refusing to Concede","datePublished":"2016-11-21T18:34:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:56:43.204Z","description":"He's complaining about voter irregularities","url":"https://time.com/4578771/north-carolina-governor-pat-mccrory/","keywords":["States","North Carolina"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a2a793338d8bbb3/6988af47f887dcb7dae9848f/gettyimages-185519186.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a2a793338d8bbb3/6988af47f887dcb7dae9848f/gettyimages-185519186.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NORTH CAROLINA POLITICS","caption":"NORTH CAROLINA POLITICS","creditText":"Raleigh News & Observer—MCT via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4578771/north-carolina-governor-pat-mccrory/","name":"North Carolina's Republican Governor Is Refusing to Concede"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"North Carolina and DOJ Duel Over Bathroom Law","description":"A North Carolina law limiting protections to LGBT people violates federal civil rights protections and can't be enforced, The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/hpI5yjFM/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-05-04T22:14:14.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hpI5yjFM.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4578771/north-carolina-governor-pat-mccrory/","duration":"PT1M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4578771/north-carolina-governor-pat-mccrory/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```