With most votes counted in North Carolina, Democratic North Carolina superintendent candidate Mo Green was leading Republican Michele Morrow, 51.3% to 48.7%, early Wednesday morning.
Morrow was a controversial candidate, a former nurse who homeschooled her six children and called public schools "indoctrination centers." She also called on social media for politicians, including former President Obama, to be executed on pay-per-view TV (in a tweet she said was made in jest).
Morrow had spoken at local school board meetings and legislative committees, but had never before held office, after running unsuccessfully for a seat on the Wake County school board in 2022. Throughout the campaign, Morrow was dogged by controversy, such as past controversial remarks such as saying the "+" in LGBTQ+ stood for pedophilia.
She won a surprise primary, defeating incumbent Republican Cathy Truitt this year.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper asked Green — a former Guilford County Schools superintendent and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools educator — to consider running for state superintendent. Green won his party's nomination by a wide margin.