CHARLOTTE - Democrat Josh Stein won North Carolina’s race for governor on Nov 5, defeating the swing state’s embattled lieutenant-governor, who had faced criticism after a report that he had called himself a “black Nazi”.

       Republican Mark Robinson had been pressured by party leaders to drop out of the race in September, amid fears that his rapidly imploding candidacy could harm Donald Trump’s bid to reclaim the White House. But Mr Robinson refused, insisting that the CNN report about his past behaviour was composed of “salacious tabloid lies”.

       According to the report, Mr Robinson was active more than a decade ago on the message board of a porn site called Nude Africa, calling himself a “perv” and a “black Nazi”, in addition to making lewd and sexually graphic comments.

       Mr Robinson, who is black, also attacked civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, calling him a “commie bastard”, CNN said.

       Mr Stein, the state’s current attorney-general, was some 14 percentage points ahead, with about half of voter precincts reporting, when US media called the race on the night of Nov 5.

       “We chose hope over hate, competence over chaos, decency over division. That’s who we are as North Carolinians,” Mr Stein said at a victory party.

       Mr Robinson, for his part, told his supporters: “It was not to be, it appears.”

       Mr Stein’s victory keeps the governor’s mansion under Democratic control as he succeeds Mr Roy Cooper. Mr Cooper, the state’s outgoing chief executive, had faced criticism from Trump and his allies over emergency efforts to help communities in western North Carolina that were hit by major flooding in September that left more than 100 people dead.

       Trump won in North Carolina, winning 51.1 per cent of the state’s votes to edge out his democratic rival, Vice-President Kamala Harris, with more than 5.6 million votes, or 95 per cent of the total, counted. AFP