WASHINGTON – Tonight, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, and Equality North Carolina (ENC), the statewide organization working to secure equal rights and justice for LGBTQ North Carolinians, celebrated the historic defeat of North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and victory of Governor-Elect Roy Cooper.

Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin & Equality North Carolina Executive Director Chris Sgro said:

“While we still await national results, Pat McCrory’s historic defeat is a beacon of hope for equality. Tonight voters said that HB2 and the politics of hate have no place in the state of North Carolina. As businesses and jobs fled the state and McCrory’s poll numbers fell, anti-equality groups rallied to his side, spending millions of dollars to bolster his faltering campaign. And we met them head on. Through our TurnOUT NC campaign, we launched the largest voter mobilization effort in our organizational histories.

“We are confident that once the results are certified, Roy Cooper’s victory will be confirmed. By electing Roy Cooper their next governor, North Carolinians have sent a powerful message across their state and this country that the days of anti-LGBTQ politicians targeting our community for political gain are over. While McCrory may have been surprised by the overwhelming opposition in this state and across the country to his discriminatory politics, the same will not be true for lawmakers who considering doubling down on anti-LGBTQ extremism in the future. This is a wake-up call."

In 2012, Pat McCrory was elected with an 11 percent margin of victory. Not only did HB2 cost McCrory his re-election, it dragged down several state candidates. HRC and ENC endorsed Roy Cooper for Governor and Josh Stein for Attorney General, who both won, as well as four challenger races that also declared victory: Rep. Cynthia Ball (D), Chaz Beasley (D), Joe John (D) and Mary Belk (D).

North Carolina has more than 255,000 LGBTQ voters -- a critical number of potential voters in a state that President Obama won by just 14,000 votes in 2008. TurnOUT NC -- a groundbreaking partnership of the Human Rights Campaign and Equality North Carolina -- has been working to turn out every LGBTQ voter and pro-equality ally. Since August, TurnOUT NC held more than 260 field activities in Charlotte and Raleigh on behalf of HRC and ENC endorsed candidates. TurnOUT NC communicated to members and supporters through targeted social media, door-knocking, phone calls, direct mail, text message alerts and email alerts. The TurnOUT NC program generated more than 24 million impressions online to members and supporters encouraging them to vote for pro-equality candidates. What’s more, HRC and ENC released a series ads targeting pro-equality voters, including “Lennie & Pearl for Roy Cooper” and “Pat McCrory: Bad for Business.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer equality. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

Equality NC is a statewide organization working to secure equal rights and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender North Carolinians. For more information, please visit www.equalitync.org

Paid for by Human Rights Campaign PAC and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

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