north carolina republican gov. pat mccrory, who in a preliminary count is narrowly losing re-election to democrat roy cooper, has filed a request with the state board of elections for a recount, setting in motion a legal battle for the state<u+2019>s top executive post. mr. mccrory<u+2019>s move to call for a recount, announced tuesday, could mean that the matter won<u+2019>t be settled for at least several more weeks. the governor solicited supporters tuesday for funds to pay the legal costs of the recount. <u+201c>with serious concerns of potential voter fraud emerging across the state, it is becoming more apparent that a thorough recount is one way the people of north carolina can have confidence in the results, process and system,<u+201d> mr. mccrory wrote in a nov. 18 letter to the board. his rival mr. cooper already declared victory in the nov. 8 election and started assembling a transition team. mr. cooper dismissed the recount effort as <u+201c>a last-ditch effort.<u+201d> the cooper campaign said their candidate leads by about 8,500 votes<u+2014><u+201c>a number that is growing daily as counties finalize election results,<u+201d> said cooper campaign manager trey nix. <u+201c>we are confident that a recount will do nothing to change the fact that roy cooper has won this election.<u+201d> about 4.7 million votes were cast in the race. the tight race for governor was an outlier for republicans in the state, where the gop has a supermajority in both houses of the legislature. republicans president-elect donald trump and u.s. sen. richard burr carried north carolina handily, as did republicans running statewide for treasurer and lieutenant governor. but mr. mccrory lost the state<u+2019>s two biggest metropolitan areas of charlotte and raleigh, both of which he carried in 2012. many voters said they disapproved of mr. mccrory<u+2019>s championing a law restricting public bathroom use by transgender people . write to cameron mcwhirter at cameron.mcwhirter@wsj.com
north carolina gov. pat mccrory asks for recount in re-election bid - wsj
cameron mcwhirter