--- title: North Carolina's Republican Governor Refuses to Concede 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 canonical: https://time.com/4578771/north-carolina-governor-pat-mccrory/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-21T18:34:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:55.736Z article:section: Politics og:title: North Carolina's Republican Governor Is Refusing to Concede og:description: He's complaining about voter irregularities og:url: https://time.com/4578771/north-carolina-governor-pat-mccrory/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a2a793338d8bbb3/6988af47f887dcb7dae9848f/gettyimages-185519186.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: NORTH CAROLINA POLITICS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: North Carolina's Republican Governor Is Refusing to Concede twitter:description: He's complaining about voter irregularities twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a2a793338d8bbb3/6988af47f887dcb7dae9848f/gettyimages-185519186.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # North Carolina's Republican Governor Is Refusing to Concede > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: North Carolina and DOJ Duel Over Bathroom Law [Watch (HLS stream): North Carolina and DOJ Duel Over Bathroom Law](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hpI5yjFM.m3u8) (1:00)  _Published 2016-05-04. 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._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 21, 2016 6:34 PM UTC  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](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 21, 2016 6:34 PM UTC [North Carolina](http://time.com/money/4499488/north-carolina-hb2-bathroom-bill-losing-business/) [Gov. Pat McCrory ](http://time.com/4453425/north-carolina-voter-id-pat-mccrory-supreme-court/)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). 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). 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) 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/), 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)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/) that limited transgender people’s access to public restrooms. The law, known as HB2, led companies, sports teams and celebrities to boycott the state. \[[_News & Observer_](http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article115729818.html)\] ```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":"2026-08-04T07:54:55.736Z","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"}}] ```