North Carolina governor's Election-Day deficit is growing — but he still won't concede

Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla

A week after Election Day, North Carolina still doesn't know who will be its next governor.

Despite facing a deficit of 4,500 votes last week, incumbent Pat McCrory refused to concede to Democrat Roy Cooper, insisting they wait on a tally of absentee and provisional ballots.

As the state starts counting those ballots, Cooper's lead has actually grown, and is close to 5,000 as of Tuesday morning.

The results will be finalized by Friday, but if McCrory's margin is within 10,000 votes, he can ask for a recount — something that would keep the race going until the end of the month.

McCrory's campaign has also claimed there was "malfeasance" in the vote-counting in heavily Democratic Durham County, which reported results later than other counties in the state.

The complaint drew a harsh rebuke from Cooper's camp.

"McCrory’s appointees were the ones who administered the election and reported the results," Cooper spokesman Jamal Little said, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. "Any claims of 'malfeasance' are nothing more than a desperate attempt by the McCrory campaign to overturn results of an election they have lost."

Both campaigns are raising funds to challenge or defend the results of the election.

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