Democratic US Rep. Jeff Jackson is elected as North Carolina's attorney general

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson was elected North Carolina’s next attorney general on Tuesday, defeating Republican congressman Dan Bishop in an expensive campaign focused on who was best able to represent the state in court and keep communities safe.

Jackson, an Afghan war veteran and National Guard attorney who has gained a large following on social media, will succeed two-term Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, who successfully ran for governor on Tuesday.

Jackson said his experience as a prosecutor — he worked as an assistant district attorney in Gaston County — and his commitment to perform his duties in a nonpartisan matter made him most qualified to become the state’s top law enforcement official. Jackson said he would work to counter the fentanyl overdose epidemic and combat scammers now using artificial intelligence techniques to fool consumers.

Bishop, a Republican who joined Congress in 2019 and is a strong supporter of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump, accused Jackson of being soft on crime and antagonistic to police at a time when violent crime rates have risen over the past decade. Jackson had said Bishop, who conceded the race in a Tuesday night speech, was too extreme for the post.

Jackson and Bishop served together in the state legislature, where Bishop was known in part for shepherding a 2016 law that banned cities from enacting new anti-discrimination ordinances and required transgender people to use public restrooms that corresponded with the sex on their birth certificate.

Jackson was elected to Congress in 2022 but didn’t seek reelection because redistricting by the General Assembly placed him in a heavily GOP district.

Despite party nominees performing well in statewide races for decades, a Republican hasn’t been elected to the post of attorney general in North Carolina since 1896. Bishop and Jackson's committees, along with interest groups, spent well over $33 million on television and online advertising during the general election campaign, according to data from AdImpact, which monitors campaign spending.

In addition to governor and attorney general, elections were held Tuesday for the eight other statewide executive branch positions that compose the Council of State.

Four Council of State members ran to remain at their posts, including Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, a Republican on the job since 2005. He defeated Democrat Sarah Taber, a farmer and farm consultant.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, a Republican, won a third term, defeating Democrat Natasha Marcus, a state senator. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and State Auditor Jessica Holmes, both Democrats, remained in close races with Republican opponents.

Marshall, who was first elected to the job in 1996, was competing against Chad Brown, chairman of the Gaston County commissioners.

Holmes was appointed auditor last year by Gov. Roy Cooper after Auditor Beth Wood announced her resignation in the wake of charges against her related to her government-owned vehicle. Holmes was seeking a four-year term against Republican Dave Boliek, the former chairman of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s trustee board.

Also up for election Tuesday were state superintendent of public instruction, state treasurer and labor commissioner.

Current Superintendent Catherine Truitt lost her Republican primary to Michele Morrow, while GOP Treasurer Dale Folwell ran unsuccessfully for his party’s nominee for governor. Republican Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson decided not to seek reelection.

For superintendent, former Guilford County Schools Superintendent Mo Green, a Democrat, defeated Morrow, who attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington before the attack on the U.S. Capitol and has called public schools liberal “indoctrination centers.”

In the race to succeed Dobson, Republican Luke Farley, an attorney, defeated Democrat Braxton Winston, a former Charlotte city council member. And succeeding Folwell will be Republican Brad Briner, a former investment manager, who defeated Democrat Wesley Harris, a state legislator and economic consultant.

With current Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson running for governor against Stein, Tuesday’s race to succeed Robinson remained close between Democratic state Sen. Rachel Hunt and Republican Hal Weatherman, a top aide to then-Lt. Gov. Dan Forest. Hunt is the daughter of former Gov. Jim Hunt, who also was lieutenant governor in the 1970s.

For a seat on the state Supreme Court, Associate Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat appointed to the court last year by Cooper, was running in a close race for an eight-year term against Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, a Republican. Five of the seven current justices are registered Republicans.

North Carolina voters on Tuesday also overwhelmingly approved a proposed constitutional amendment that supporters contended clarifies that only U.S. citizens at least 18 years of age and meeting other qualifications shall be entitled to vote in elections.

A voter leaves a polling place at St. James Episcopal Church in Black Mountain, N.C. on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. The town near Asheville was among the many hard hit by Hurricane Helene, and the church was hosting two displaced precincts. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Four-year-old Stone Smathers, center, waits for his parents to finish voting, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Canton, N.C. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Voters walk through rows of political signs outside of TC Roberson High School on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

University of North Carolina at Asheville student, Elijah Walker-Haigh, left, speaks with advocates for Vice President Kamala Harris, Greg Horwitch, middle, and David Dean outside the West Asheville Public Library on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

Poll worker, Genevieve Bieniosek helps a voter with curbside voting outside the West Asheville Public Library on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

Zeb Smathers, shows a ballot to his 4-year-old son, Stone Smathers, while voting, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Canton, N.C. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

People cast their votes during Election Day at TC Roberson High School, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

Sasha Dix shows his "I voted" sticker after he voted at TC Roberson High School on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

Ronnie Brookshire votes, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Canton, N.C. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A series of bomb threats across multiple battleground states and baseless claims of wrongdoing by former President Donald Trump disrupted an otherwise smooth Election Day that capped a tumultuous presidential campaign.

The bomb threats in parts of Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania on Tuesday turned out to be hoaxes, but they forced some polling places to evacuate and extend hours, and delayed the counting of some ballots.

The threats were reported throughout the day at polling locations in three metro Atlanta counties, all with large numbers of Democratic voters, and into the evening at Pennsylvania polling places and election offices where ballots were being counted. Bomb threats also were reported in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to state election officials.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in an evening news conference that the hoaxes posed no danger to the public — or to the election.

“Every legal, eligible vote will be counted and counted accurately, and the will of the people in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania will be respected," said Shapiro, a Democrat.

Neither Shapiro nor Pennsylvania State Police gave details about who might be behind the hoaxes.

In Georgia's Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, 32 of 177 polling places received bomb threats and five were briefly evacuated. The polling locations were able to reopen after the threats.

“That just shows you the resilience of our system and our people. We’re battle-tested,” said Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican.

The FBI said many hoax bomb threats in several states appeared to originate from Russian email domains, though federal cybersecurity officials cautioned that the culprits were not necessarily Russian.

The dramatic and troubling end to Election Day came after a highly successful early voting period, when at least half of all votes expected in the presidential election had been cast. By Tuesday, more than 84 million Americans had already voted.

Overall, the final day of voting was characterized by the same kind of routine hiccups and frustrations seen in other elections: a polling worker forgetting to bring a key; ballot printing mistakes; ballot counting machines not working.

The vast majority of problems were “largely expected, routine and planned-for events,” said Cait Conley, senior adviser to the director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Turnout on Tuesday was robust in many states. In Nevada, one of two western presidential battlegrounds, long lines were reported in Reno and Las Vegas. After polls closed, there was still a three-hour wait at a polling location at the University of Nevada, Reno, according to local election officials.

Despite no evidence of widespread voting problems, Trump made unsubstantiated claims related to Philadelphia and Detroit, and raised questions about election operations in Milwaukee, the biggest cities in three states crucial for deciding the presidency.

Local officials quickly knocked down the claims Trump made on his social media platform, saying there were no indications of any problems that would affect accurately tallying the vote.

The absence of any significant problems had not stopped Trump, the Republican nominee, or the Republican National Committee, from making numerous claims of fraud or election interference during the early voting period, a possible prelude to challenges after Election Day.

In Georgia, a federal judge rejected as “frivolous” a last-minute effort by Republicans to challenge Atlanta-area election offices’ collection of mail ballots last weekend — after early voting had ended. U.S. District Judge R. Stan Baker, a Trump appointee, said the GOP argument “does not withstand even the most basic level of statutory review and reading comprehension.”

Trump on Tuesday suggested he wouldn’t challenge the results of the election — as long as it’s fair.

“If it’s a fair election, I’d be the first one to acknowledge” the results, Trump said, though what meets that definition wasn’t clear.

Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, had urged voters not to fall for Trump’s tactic of casting doubt on elections.

The former president began making unsubstantiated claims about voting, ballot counting and law enforcement as Election Day voting neared its end.

He said on his social media platform that there was “talk about massive cheating in Philadelphia” and said law enforcement was on the way. He did not provide details, and there was no immediate indication of what he was referring to. His spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment about what he meant.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner issued a statement rejecting Trump’s claims as baseless.

“There is no factual basis whatsoever within law enforcement to support this wild allegation,” Krasner said. “If Donald J. Trump has any facts to support his wild allegations, we want them now.”

Federal election security officials and Shapiro also said they had seen nothing to support Trump’s claims. Officer Miguel Torres of the Philadelphia Police Department said he was unaware of any special law enforcement mobilization or “any kind of incident” that would require it.

One of three Philadelphia election board members, Seth Bluestein, a Republican, said on social media that Trump's comment “is yet another example of disinformation.” During an evening news conference, he emphasized the security of the city's vote: ”There is no evidence whatsoever of massive cheating,” he said.

Police in Detroit were equally puzzled by another Trump post that said, “Philadelphia and Detroit! Heavy Law Enforcement is there!” Detroit police said there were no reported issues inside or outside of Huntington Place, the massive convention room where election workers counted ballots.

Evening traffic outside the center was light with no protesters in sight. Barricades were up outside the room and escalators to and from the area were shut off. Police also reported no major problems in the city’s more than 400 voting precincts.

“The former president said there was a strong law enforcement presence in Philadelphia and Detroit. That was not true," Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said during an evening news conference.

In Milwaukee, election officials said they were recounting more than 30,000 mail ballots “out of an abundance of caution” after it was discovered that doors on the back of ballot scanners were not properly sealed. The effort, which drew the attention of Trump and the RNC, was expected to delay the count there.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson went to the Milwaukee central count location with the chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party to observe the effort. Less than two months before Election Day, the Milwaukee election office had drawn praise from Republicans who oversee elections in the state and who had expressed confidence that it was ready.

Arizona, a hotly contested swing state, saw multiple Election Day challenges. Bomb threats targeted polling locations in Cochise, Navajo and Yavapai counties, delaying some results, and frustrated Native American voters stood in hours-long lines in Apache County. A judge ordered some polling places there to remain open two extra hours because of malfunctioning equipment and a lack of printed ballots.

Throughout the day, members of the Navajo Nation reported being turned away by poll workers after waiting for hours. Over 43,000 registered voters live on the Apache County portion of the Navajo Nation, according to court documents in the lawsuit seeking the extension of voting.

Zane James said he waited out in the cold with about 50 other voters for about 2 1/2 hours before they could cast their ballots because of a problem with the site’s single printer.

“It was just a mess, it was terrible,” he said.

At a polling site in Chinle, on the Navajo Nation, Amanda Woody said she didn’t know how long it would take before she would be able to cast her ballot.

“There is a line, but I’m willing to wait,” she said. “Every vote counts.”

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Levi Zoltowski, center, from St. Charles, waits in line to vote in the presidential election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at St. Charles Christian Church in the New Town area of St. Charles, Mo. (Zachary Linhares/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

People line up to vote outside Allegiant Stadium, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Voters stand in line to enter a polling place on the campus of Pinkerton Academy, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Derry, N.H. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris phone banks with volunteers at the DNC headquarters on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

American flags line Main Street on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

An election worker scans an envelope that holds a voting machine memory card at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots outside a polling station on the Navajo Nation in Fort Defiance, Ariz., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

Voters wait in line and fill out their ballots at a voting center at Lumen Field Event Center on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Election workers review ballots at the Denver Elections Division in Denver on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Chet Strange)

A poll worker sets up before a polling place opens, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Atlanta.(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Election workers process mail-in ballots for the 2024 General Election at the Philadelphia Election Warehouse, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Ingrid Bender, a supporter of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and Jonathan Foust, a supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, offer rosters of who to vote for in their political parties to voters arriving at a polling place in Cranberry, Pa., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

People cast their ballots, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

An election worker processes mail-in ballots for the 2024 General Election at the Philadelphia Election Warehouse, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

People stand in line to vote at the Reno Town Mall, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Reno, Nev. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)

Janice Prior votes at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation building Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Rossville, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Chicago school teacher Tabitha Berry, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, fills out a ballot for the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Ronnie Brookshire votes, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Canton, N.C. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Voters arrive at the 146-year-old Buck Creek School to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in rural Perry, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Vesta Avery, 2, helps her mother Alexis Taylor mark her ballot at P.S. M811, The Mickey Mantle School, in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Voters work on their ballots at a polling place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Simi Valley, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Three-year-old Zayn, sits on his father's shoulders as he inserts his ballot into a machine to vote at the First Presbyterian Church of Dearborn, on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Election workers process mail-in ballots for the 2024 General Election at the Chester County, Pa., administrative offices, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in West Chester, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

A voter casts their ballot at a drop box in Denver on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Chet Strange)

Voters stand in line outside a polling place at Madison Church, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Volunteers check the ballots at the Bronx County Supreme Court in New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Rain pours down while voters are waiting in line to cast their vote on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 at West Gray Multiservice Center in Houston. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Voters cast their ballots at the Bronx County Supreme Court in New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Voters fill out their ballots Hilton Township Hall in Conroy, Iowa on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette via AP)

Rain pours down while voters are waiting in line to cast their vote on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 at West Gray Multiservice Center in Houston. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Faith Denison, 38, left, holds her son, Lincoln Denison, 3, moments after casting her vote at the Centre of Palm Harbor, Fla., for the 2024 General Election on Tuesday, Nov 5, 2024. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Voters cast their ballots at the Bronx County Supreme Court in New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Voters stand in line outside a polling place at Madison Church, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Stickers lay on a table inside a polling place, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Voters line up to cast their ballots at The Church at Brook Hills on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Birmingham, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks after voting on Election Day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Three-year-old Zayn, sits on his father's shoulders as he votes at the First Presbyterian Church of Dearborn, on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at Scranton High School in Scranton, Pa., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Liza Fortt, 74, center, waits in line to cast her ballot for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at her polling place at Scranton High School in Scranton, Pa., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Election day worker Sean Vander Waal prepares to open a polling place,Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Voters stand in line while waiting for a polling place to open, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Springfield, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Voters stand in line while waiting for a polling place to open, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Springfield, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

People arrive at polling place to vote, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Springfield, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Voters line up to enter their polling place at the Cincinnati Observatory on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

People wait in line to cast their ballots at an early voting location, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Blue Springs, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

An elections official sorts counted mail-in ballots on the first day of tabulation, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at the Maricopa County Recorder's Office in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

FILE - A Delaware County secured drop box for the return of vote-by-mail ballots is pictured, May 2, 2022, in Newtown Square, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

People line up to vote at the Chicago Early Voting Loop Supersite in Chicago, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

A voter fills out their their ballot during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Fall River, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

An election worker demonstrates mail-in ballot processing during a media preview at the Philadelphia Election Warehouse, in Philadelphia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

A person walks past a sign during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Fall River, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Voters line up to vote as a early voting location opened in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The final day of voting in the US is here, after tens of millions have already cast their ballots

The final day of voting in the US is here, after tens of millions have already cast their ballots

People stand in line during the last day of early voting, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)