Republican Ted Budd wins North Carolina Senate race

Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) is projected to defeat former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley in the state’s Senate race.

CNN and NBC News both called the race for the Republican.

Despite North Carolina’s battleground status, the Senate race largely flew under the radar of many national Democrats, drawing only a fraction of the attention that other key Senate contests, such as the ones in Georgia and Pennsylvania, received.

Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) defeated former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley in a race that remained tight throughout the campaign despite not receiving much national attention. (Getty)

Nevertheless, the polls remained tight throughout the campaign, leading to late-breaking investments in the race by outside groups on both sides of the aisle.

Ultimately, however, the race ended in yet another disappointment for Democrats, who have suffered several close defeats in North Carolina in recent years.

Budd’s win is also likely to be seen as a victory for former President Trump, who endorsed him early on in the race, elevating him in a primary field that included high-profile North Carolina Republicans such as former Gov. Pat McCrory.

Democrats, meanwhile, saw Beasley’s candidacy as a new approach to politics in the state. A former chief justice of the state Supreme Court, Beasley sought to cast herself as an independent-minded jurist who would be willing to break with her party in Washington when doing so was in the best interest of North Carolinians.

Beasley presented herself as an independent-minded candidate who would be unafraid to break with her party for the best interest of North Carolinians. (Associated Press)

Budd ran a lower-profile campaign, avoiding the kind of gaffes and unflattering media attention that many other Republican Senate candidates received.

That didn’t stop Democrats from attacking him as a far-right acolyte of Trump who staked out extreme positions on high-profile issues such as abortion rights. Ultimately, voters were unconvinced.

While the win is good news for Republicans, it won’t drastically alter the makeup of the Senate. The seat is currently held by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who announced years ago that he would not seek reelection in 2020.