The morning after Election Day, the North Carolina gubernatorial race is still too close to call.

Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper is leading incumbent Republican Governor Pat McCrory by 5,001 votes with more than 4.5 million votes cast. Libertarian Lon Cecil received more than 100,000 votes, according to the State Board of Elections.

Longtime attorney Gerry Cohen said the possibility of a recount is still very much in play in the governor’s race and other close Council of State races.

Cohen said that the provisional ballots will now be tallied by the county Boards of Elections before certifying the numbers on November 18. If Cooper and McCrory are separated by less than 10,000 votes at that point, then the trailing candidate may ask for a statewide recount.

Despite the thin margin, Cooper declared victory in a speech in the early morning hours of Wednesday. McCrory, meanwhile, assured supporters that he would fight until all of the ballots had been counted in the Tar Heel state.

Several other Council of State races are separated by less than one percentage point. Democrat Josh Stein is leading Republican Buck Newton in the race for Attorney General by nearly 21,000 votes. Democratic incumbent Beth Wood is leading Republican Chuck Stuber by 3,000 votes in the race for Auditor. Republican Mike Causey is leading Democratic incumbent Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin by nearly 39,000 votes. And Republican Mark Johnson is leading Democratic incumbent June Atkinson by approximately 56,000 votes in the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

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