Senator-elect Thom Tillis, formerly speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives, took 48.9 percent of the vote and narrowly defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, who had 47 percent of the vote. Tillis’s election was the win that secured control of the Senate for Republicans.
Libertarian candidate Sean Haugh, who gained national fame for his occupation as a pizza delivery man and his low-budget campaign of YouTube videos, finished with more than 3 percent of the vote.
“America is made great when we let Americans make America great, not government,” said Tillis in his victory speech on Nov. 4. “There’s only one thing the government can provide that doesn’t came at the expense of anyone else, and that’s freedom.”
The contest was the nation’s most expensive Senate race, with around $110 million spent by candidates and outside groups, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The amount of political spending was so high that a conservative group — American Future Fund — spent $225,000 running ads trying to persuade young voters to support the Libertarian Haugh instead of Hagan.
Hagan had held a small, yet consistent, lead in polls throughout the campaign, but she was ultimately defeated, say political analysts, because of North Carolina voters’ dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama. Republicans also tend to turn out in higher numbers than Democrats for midterm elections.
Hagan conceded just before midnight on Election Day after losing an early lead and failing to regain ground.
“I will always be grateful for the trust you placed in me and for the chance to serve our great state,” she said in her concession speech. “You weren’t just standing with me. You were standing with working class families all across North Carolina. Those are the families that still need a voice.”
