The big news from North Carolina Tuesday was that President Donald Trump had indeed carried the Tarheel State the week before and that Republican Sen. Thom Tillis had eked out a win over Democrat and long-presumed favorite Cal Cunningham.
"But there was much more news," state House Speaker Tim Moore told Newsmax. "Republicans had a great election here."
Although Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper was reelected, Moore noted, Republicans made gains just about everywhere else.
The governorship aside, Republicans emerged triumphant in races for six of 10 statewide offices. The most notable of the statewide contests was the election of conservative Republican Mark Robinson as North Carolina's first-ever Black lieutenant governor.
"And this is someone who never held office and had millions thrown against him in attack media in the fall," Moore told us. "He's someone to watch."
Republicans also went from a 6-1 minority on the state Supreme Court to 5-4, and won five races for the Court of Appeals.
Moore was proudest that Republicans added four seats to their present majority in the state House of Representatives, bringing the numbers to 69 Republicans and 51 Democrats.
"We lost one seat in the state Senate, but it's still 28-to-22 Republican," said the speaker, who expects a clash with the governor over the recent toughening of his lockdown policies to deal with COVID-19.
"But the stage is set to win a supermajority in 2022," said Moore. "Right now, we feel pretty good."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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