CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When Republican Thom Tillis edged out Democratic incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina late Tuesday, he told a boisterous crowd that the victory “isn’t about me… This is our victory.” He was talking about the people of North Carolina, but some analysts say it was about the Republican Party.
Tillis, the speaker of the North Carolina state House beat Hagan 49 percent to 47 percent, a decision that required waiting until nearly 100 percent of the votes had been counted.
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Tillis began closing the 8 percentage point lead Hagan had. By 10 p.m., Tillis began to lead with over 50 percent of precinct votes in.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections had to extend the voting poll closure times for three counties when polling stations ran out of ballots. That and the close race extended the night significantly past the normal close of polls.
At the Omni Hotel in Charlotte, N.C., where bright-red tablecloths and and balloons were interspersed among the crowd of supporters as the final votes came in. The crowd cheered and chanted Tillis’ name, then “USA” as Tillis began speaking.
“I know it’s late. I don’t know about you all but I got a little bit of energy,” hes said.
“This isn’t about me, this isn’t about Sen. Hagan, but this is your seat,” Tillis said. “This victory is not my victory. This victory is our victory.”
In Greensboro, N.C., Hagan told a crowd chanting “WE WANT KAY”in the Greensboro Coliseum that she talked with Tillis “to tell him we will work with him through this transition period.”
Hagan kept her speech short and simple, citing no political rationale behind her defeat.
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said Hagan should have had the campaign in the bag as an incumbent and with her donor support. Hagan was largely supported by Raleigh and the surrounding Wake County, where she led by 13 percent over Tillis.
The junior senator was a part of the most expensive congressional race in U.S. history, totaling more than $113 million in campaign spending, according to OpenSecrets.org.
But Burr said Tillis had a strong advantage over voters’ concerns on national security and energy policies. In an Elon University poll on North Carolina likely voters on Oct. 25, international affairs and national security were ranked as the most important issues.
Dallas Woodhouse, whose company donated $4.7 million to Tillis’ campaign, said Tillis had a strong campaign in the last couple of weeks, when advertising focused on a clear message linking Hagan’s voting record to President Barack Obama’s policies.
“Mr. Tillis had relentless message discipline in the last couple of weeks,” Woodhouse said.
Burr said Tillis’ victory and those of more than half a dozen on Republican upset winners send a message not only to Democrats and Obama – but to the Republicans in Congress.
“This is a wave that starts with Kentucky, and it’s just a question of where it stops,” he said about support for the Republican Party. “We have to prove we can govern.”