"Thank you for the honor to serve the great state of North Carolina," the Governor said in a surprise video release.
Cooper's lead had stabilized - even increased a little - after some contentious recount efforts, settling around a 10,000 vote advantage over the incumbent Governor.
Their recount fight had spawned increasingly partisan battling between the two parties, as Democrats charged the GOP was trying to overturn the verdict of the voters - but little had changed in terms of the numbers.
The announcement came as votes were still being recounted in Monday in Durham County, a heavily Democratic area.
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