1 state seat in U.S. House still uncertain

North Carolina Republicans celebrated a sweeping victory on election night in their efforts to take control of the state’s U.S. House of Representatives delegation — but one yet undecided seat might not follow suit.

Republicans won nine out of the state’s 13 districts for the U.S. House of Representatives last week, according to unofficial election results.

But N.C. District 7 is one of seven U.S. House seats nationwide that is still too close to call, and it poses a chance for N.C. Democrats to cling onto one more seat.

The Nov. 6 results showed an advantage for U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, the Democratic incumbent, over N.C. Sen. David Rouzer, R-Johnston, by a razor-thin margin of less than 500 votes.

County boards of elections officials will continue to count votes well into this week in an effort to determine a winner.

Johnnie McLean, deputy director of the N.C. Board of Elections, said the post-election counting process ensures all types of ballots are taken into account, including absentee ballots from military members overseas.

McLean said a recount is only administered when the difference between the two candidates is 1 percent or less and a candidate makes a request.

“From what we can tell, (the difference between McIntyre and Rouzer) will be a lot less,” she said.

Michael Cobb, an N.C. State University political science professor, said the District 7 race was always destined to be close based on the Republican party’s control of the redistricting process, which allowed them to create new district boundaries.

NCSU professor Steven Greene said District 7 was part of the GOP’s strategy of securing a majority of the state’s U.S. House seats.

“Republicans redrew districts to get 10 out of 13 districts, but they drew District 7 less obviously.”

Cobb said that while District 7 is slightly more Republican-leaning after redistricting, McIntyre’s incumbency — particularly the benefit of name recognition — was a game changer.

Greene also pointed out McIntyre is the N.C. delegation’s most conservative-leaning Democrat in the U.S. House.

“If he was your typical House Democrat — like David Price or Brad Miller — he would have lost this race by a lot,” he said.

The county boards of elections in the district will hold a meeting Friday after all eligible ballots have been counted to determine the next steps.

“It’s not a quick process, and that is what people have a hard time accepting,” McLean said.

“We want instant gratification and results, and we need to take what time is necessary to ensure that the numbers released are final and accurate.”

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.