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Sept. 10 (UPI) -- North Carolina Republicans came up big Tuesday night, winning both special elections. In North Carolina's 9th District, Republican state Rep. Dan Bishop narrowly beat out Democrat Dan McCready during a special election that was called after last year's midterm was voided due to accusations of voter fraud.
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"Thank you to the good people of the 9th District!" Bishop said during his victory speech from Monroe, N.C. "... You guys and all the families across this district are why I do this and what I'm fighting for."
Bishop bested McCready by some 4,000 votes, garnering 50.8 percent of the ballots to McCready's 48.6 percent.
Last November, GOP candidate Mark Harris won the seat but did not run again for the Republican nomination.
Harris beat McCready by nearly 1,000 votes in the 2018 vote, but state election officials refused to certify the results based on the fraud accusations and ultimately ordered the new election.
Bishop is known for championing North Carolina's controversial bathroom bill, and McCready is an Iraq War veteran who owns a solar panel investment business.
McCready raised $4.8 million in contributions from January to August and Bishop raised more than $8 million.
President Donald Trump visited Fayetteville, N.C., on Monday to stump for Bishop. He also appeared in a television ad and recorded a robocall.
"What an incredible night welcoming Trump to Fayetteville!" Bishop tweeted Monday night. "We're not tired of winning & we're going to bring home a big victory tomorrow night thanks to his huge support!"
On Tuesday, the president took at least some credit for Bishop's win, stating via Twitter that the lawyer had asked him for help and "we changed his strategy together, and he ran a great race."
Some political observers and McCready saw the race as another referendum on Trump's presidency.
"This race could be the canary in the coal mine for what is to come in 2020," the Democrat said in a fundraising email. "That's exactly why outside GOP groups have poured over $6 million into my district."
McCready called last year's vote the "largest case of election fraud" in modern U.S. history.
"I'm going to tell you the easy thing to do when we saw that would have been to throw in the towel," McCready said. "I chose to fight."
In the waning hours of Tuesday's election, McCready took to Twitter to urge voters in line when the ballots closed to stay put and make sure to cast their votes as he knew it was going to be close.
"The race is gonna come down to just a small number of votes, and we need to make sure you cast yours!" he said.
North Carolina's 9th District has been Republican since the 1960s. Trump and 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney both won the district by about a dozen points.
Voters in North Carolina's 3rd District also took to the polls, electing Rep. Greg Murphy over Democrat Allen Thomas for the seat, which opened up following the death of Republican Rep. Walter Jones earlier this year.
With 61.7 percent of the vote, Murphy beat the former Greenville mayor who garnered 37.5 percent in the special election that was called following Jone's death in February.
The result was of little surprise as Murphy had been the favorite since winning a primary runoff in July. The lawmaker had finished first among 17 candidates in April but was unable to secure his party's nomination outright by falling short of the required 30 percent of the vote.
The urologist won with strong endorsements from the House Freedom Caucus and President Donald Trump, who tweeted his support for Murphy last Thursday.
"We really need Greg in Washington," the president said. "He is great [with] military, our vets, & your 2A. Strong on crime and the border, has had my total endorsement for a long time."
Both winners Tuesday will serve out the remainder of the 116th Congress and would need to run for re-election next year.
