Category Archives: North Carolina

US elections 2024: 10 key House races to watch

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Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to get back control of the lower chamber – here’s what to keep an eye on

Much attention has been paid to the historic race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, but the results of down-ballot elections will determine whether the new president will actually be able to implement a legislative agenda next year.

With Republicans defending a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to wrest back control of the lower chamber, and both parties are going all out to win.

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Trump and Harris scramble to win votes in key states in final day of campaigning

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Ex-president hurtles through four rallies across three states as vice-president puts focus on Pennsylvania

Donald Trump began hurtling through four Maga rallies across three battleground states – and delivered a dark and dystopian speech about the supposed “migrant invasion” of murderers and drug dealers – while Kamala Harris put all her last chips on Pennsylvania in a frantic final day of campaigning from both candidates.

With the polls showing the contest essentially deadlocked between two vastly different political visions, both the ex-president and the vice-president were scrambling on Monday to drive home their message. Though early voting has smashed records across the country, there is still everything to play for in cajoling undecided and unengaged voters to the polls on election day.

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When do polls close?

How the electoral college works

Where is abortion on the ballot?

Senate and House races to watch

Lessons from the key swing states

Trump v Harris on key issues

What’s at stake in this election

What to know about the US election

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Facebook page with racist posts still visible for Republican Mark Robinson

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No denial from candidate for governor of North Carolina, who is suing CNN for report on his ‘Black NAZI’ porn profile

Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s embattled Republican gubernatorial candidate, suggested that people who can’t take care of their children should be sterilized, according to one of a series of incendiary and racist social media posts from 2014 through 2019.

The commentary made in reference to Black families, which used terms a white supremacist would find appropriate, predates his time as the state’s lieutenant governor, but much of it came after his rise as a public figure on the right. Most of the social media posts have not previously been reported.

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Trump courts Christian vote and says ‘God saved me for a purpose’

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Republican nominee reflects on assassination attempt and says ‘my faith took on new meaning on July 13’

Donald Trump urged Christian voters on Monday to participate in the 2024 election, claiming that a Kamala Harris administration would restrict religious freedoms and casting himself as a protector of Christians.

During an event in North Carolina billed as an “11th-Hour Faith Leaders Meeting”, a series of conservative pastors warmed up for Trump, including Guillermo Maldonado, an “apostle” and longtime Trump ally who cast the election in perilous terms.

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Harris and Cheney talk economy, women’s health and Trump in Michigan campaign event – as it happened

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We reported earlier that Kamala Harris has a huge advantage in campaign cash over Donald Trump. But the former president has his own deep-pocketed backer in the former of Tesla boss Elon Musk, who held a strange town hall in swing state Pennsylvania this weekend where he started handing out mammoth checks to voters to get them to back Trump. The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland witnessed the spectacle in person:

Standing before a large US flag, which spanned the breadth of a vast stage, the world’s richest man told an assembled crowd that he loved them.

Today, my Administration is taking a major step to expand contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act. This new action would help ensure that millions of women with private health insurance can access the no-cost contraception they need. Vice President Harris and I have worked tirelessly to protect and build on the Affordable Care Act. We lowered costs for Marketplace coverage by an average of $800 per year for millions of Americans, and more Americans than ever before have signed up for health insurance through the law.

At a time when contraception access is under attack, Vice President Harris and I are resolute in our commitment to expanding access to quality, affordable contraception. We believe that women in every state must have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions, including the right to decide if and when to start or grow their family. We will continue to fight to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to restore reproductive freedom and safeguard the right to contraception once and for all.

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Rare copy of US constitution sells for $9m at North Carolina auction

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Document printed 237 years ago, one of eight copies known to still exist, went to highest bidder on Thursday

A rare copy of the US constitution printed 237 years ago and sent to the states to be ratified was sold for $9m at an auction Thursday evening in North Carolina.

Brunk Auctions sold the document, the only copy of its type thought to be privately owned, at a private auction. The name of the buyer was not immediately released.

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Insurance is failing hurricane survivors: ‘People thought they were covered’

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Flooding is separate from typical US home insurance and many homeowners are not adequately covered

As millions of US residents begin working to file insurance claims on their homes in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, many could be denied, particularly if their homes were damaged by flooding.

A quirk in the US home insurance market is that flood insurance is separate from typical home insurance, which usually covers wind damage from hurricanes but not flooding. Homeowners must purchase flood insurance separately if they want their homes protected against flooding.

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Hurricanes like Helene twice as likely to happen due to global heating, data finds

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Analysis shows Gulf’s heat that worsened Helene 200-500 times more likely because of human-caused global heating

As Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida, fueled by a record-hot Gulf of Mexico, a new analysis has shown how the Gulf’s heat that worsened last month’s Hurricane Helene was 200 to 500 times more likely because of human-caused global heating.

Helene, one of the deadliest storms in US history, gathered pace over the Gulf before crashing ashore with 140mph winds.

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Fema chief warns ‘dangerous’ Trump falsehoods hampering Helene response

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Misinformation spread by Trump, his supporters and others about the hurricane has shrouded recovery efforts

A slew of falsehoods about Hurricane Helene, including claims of funds diverted from storm survivors to migrants and even that Democrats somehow directed the hurricane itself, have hampered the response to one of the deadliest hurricanes to ever hit the US, the nation’s top emergency official has warned.

Misinformation spread by Donald Trump, his supporters and others about the hurricane has shrouded the recovery effort for communities shattered by Helene, which tore through five states causing at least 230 deaths and tens of billions of dollars of damage. Many places, such as in western North Carolina, are still without a water supply, electricity, navigable roads or vital supplies.

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Still reeling from Helene, Florida braces for Hurricane Milton as it gains strength

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State official urges people to prepare for ‘largest evacuation that we have seen most likely since 2017 Hurricane Irma’

Florida has expanded its state of emergency as it braces for a major storm expect to pummel the state’s western peninsula by midweek, after Tropical Storm Milton gathered strength and was declared a category 1 hurricane on Sunday.

The impending landfall of Milton comes days after Hurricane Helene caused devastation and destruction through large swaths of Florida and other parts of the south-east of the US including North Carolina. The death toll stands at 230 people, and is expected to rise.

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Harris says federal aid for Hurricane Helene relief ‘here for the long term’

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Vice-president pledges ongoing support during second trip in four days to North Carolina disaster zone

Kamala Harris pledged ongoing federal support and praised the “heroes among us” during a swing through hurricane-hit North Carolina on Saturday, her second trip in four days to the disaster zone.

The vice-president began her visit by attending a briefing with state and local officials in Charlotte, where she thanked “those who are in the room and those who are out there right now working around the clock” in the post-Helene rescue effort.

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US south-east reels from ‘catastrophic’ devastation from Hurricane Helene

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Communities are stranded, over 200 people have died with more expected, and more than 700,000 are without power

Rescue crews in parts of the south-eastern US were still searching on Friday for those missing as they entered the eighth day since Hurricane Helene roared ashore in Florida and became the deadliest mainland hurricane in the US since Katrina in 2005.

The death toll could grow higher, having surpassed 200 on Thursday, while the sheer scale of the devastation from wind and floods has slowed efforts to find many people’s loved ones and also get supplies to stranded communities and restore power to more than 700,000 people.

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Hurricane Helene: more than 200 dead as search for missing people continues

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Hurricane that made landfall as category 4 last week is described as one of deadliest storms in US history

A week after Hurricane Helene made landfall in the US, search-and-rescue teams continue to look for missing people in parts of the south-east that were devastated by the storm, and nearly a million people in the region remain without power.

Officials have reported at least 215 deaths across six states, and have warned that the toll is expected to rise as recovery efforts continue. A separate NBC News tally found that at least 202 people have died, including at least 98 in North Carolina, 19 in Florida, 33 in Georgia, 39 in South Carolina, 11 in Tennessee and two in Virginia.

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Mark Robinson skipped vote to declare Hurricane Helene a state of emergency

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North Carolina lieutenant governor who has been criticized for alleged explicit posts was the only member to not vote

Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor and Republican gubernatorial candidate, skipped a vote on declaring a state of emergency in advance of Hurricane Helene’s arrival to the southern state, according to a report.

Robinson, who has been under attack recently over alleged racist and explicit posts on a pornography website’s message board, was the only council of state member who did not vote on Democratic governor Roy Cooper’s emergency declaration, WRAL News reported.

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Over 120 dead and a million without power after ‘historic’ Hurricane Helene

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Biden says he will visit North Carolina after devastating storm destroys entire communities across several states

As the south-east US continues recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene’s devastation, the storm’s death toll keeps climbing, with more than 120 killed across several states.

Joe Biden will visit North Carolina, where the western part of the state has been devastated by flooding, on Wednesday.

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Hurricane Helene’s ‘historic flooding’ made worse by global heating, Fema says

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It will be ‘complicated recovery’ in five states, says disaster relief agency, with hurricane killing at least 91 people so far

The head of the US disaster relief agency has called Hurricane Helene, which has killed nearly 100 people, a “true multi-state event” that caused “significant infrastructure damage” and had been made worse because of global heating.

The storm killed at least 91 people, according to state and local officials in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. Officials feared more bodies would be discovered.

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At least 64 dead and millions without power after Helene devastates south-eastern US

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Flooding and landslides strike southern Appalachians after hurricane pummeled region and wreaked havoc

At least 64 people have been confirmed dead and almost 3.5 million were without power on Saturday, after strong winds and torrential rain from Hurricane Helene wreaked unprecedented havoc across large swathes of the south-eastern United States.

Historic flooding continued over parts of the southern Appalachians on Saturday, as first responders worked to reach stranded communities in trying conditions while local authorities began to assess the scale of the damage and displacement.

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North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson treated for second-degree burns

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Embattled Republican lieutenant governor was expected to return to the campaign trail on Saturday

North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, Republican Mark Robinson, received burns on Friday night while attending a truck show as he was campaigning for governor, his campaign said.

Robinson was making an appearance at the Mayberry truck show in Mount Airy when he was injured, campaign spokesperson Mike Lonergan said in a statement.

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New species of invasive flatworm discovered in three southern US states

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Amaga pseudobama was first spotted in 2020 in North Carolina and has now spread to Florida and Georgia

A new species of invasive flatworm has been discovered in the United States and has been found in several states in the south, according to a new paper.

The species, named Amaga pseudobama, was discovered by an international team of researchers and first spotted in 2020 in North Carolina. It is thought to be native to South America.

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Lindsey Graham calls reports of Mark Robinson’s ‘black Nazi’ posts ‘beyond unnerving’

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Senator does not call for Robinson to drop out of governor race and says he ‘deserves a chance to defend himself’

The senior Senate Republican Lindsey Graham has said reports that the North Carolina Republican candidate for governor, Mark Robinson, calling himself a “black NAZI!” in posts on the porn forum Nude Africa a decade ago are “beyond unnerving” and should see him end his political career if proven true.

“If they’re true, he’s unfit to serve for office,” the long-serving South Carolina senator said Sunday. “If they’re not true, he has the best lawsuit in the history of the country for libel.”

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