One race in North Carolina has prevented a complete takeover of the state’s government by Democrats, if the final tally after a provisional-ballot count holds.

Democrats control the governor’s office of North Carolina, and unofficial election counts indicate they will take over the state’s House of Representatives.

Republicans may have avoided losing control of the state Senate by only 228 votes.

Control of the state’s Senate depends on Republican state Sen. Danny Britt Jr. defeating a challenge from Democrat Catina Hamm in District 24.

The latest update of unofficial results from the North Carolina State Board of Elections shows Britt with 28,047 votes and the Democrat with 27,819 votes.

That means Republicans may have avoided losing control of the state Senate by only 228 votes in the pivotal contest.

The results will become official after canvassing and certification is completed.

Democrats across the country not only won both chambers of the U.S. Congress but won hundreds of state-level elections that flipped several states into the “trifecta” column for them.

In North Carolina, Republicans lost their veto-proof majority against Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. But if the results hold for Senate District 24, they will avoid handing Democrats another state trifecta.

RELATED: Democrats’ state-level takeover is staggering

If Hamm is somehow able to defeat Britt, both Republicans and Democrats would hold 25 seats each in the state Senate. The deadlock would be decided by the lieutenant governor, who is a Democrat.

A recount is not automatic, but the losing candidate can request a recount if the margin is less than 1%, which is currently the case in the Britt-Hamm contest.

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Law enforcement officials have arrested at least two people after objects were hurled at former President Joe Biden and his wife during an unruly protest in Ireland.

The Bidens were visiting Trinity College in Dublin on Tuesday for a ceremony honoring Hunter Biden when protesters became violent.

Video from Forbes News showed some protesters waving Palestinian flags.

Videos on social media show police struggling to arrest the suspects as demonstrators chant, “Blood! Blood! Blood on your hands!” over and over.

The 83-year-old former president and Jill Biden were leaving the college when angry protesters sparked the confrontation.

Another video shows a projectile thrown near the former president but blocked by an umbrella held by a security guard. A milk-like substance was also thrown, striking multiple officers.

Hunter Biden, who sired a child with a stripper and admitted to being a crack addict, received the Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution for Public Discourse.

Hunter has mocked his critics on social media and advised Democrats to lurch to the far left after the Democratic Socialists of America chalked up some election victories.

Video from Forbes News shows some protesters waving Palestinian flags.

RELATED: When a Detroit rally for Joe Biden descended into chaos — and he blamed Trump

The Bidens visited Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin during the trip.

Hunter Biden became the first child of a sitting president to be criminally convicted when he was found guilty of gun crimes in 2024. He also agreed to a plea deal on nine tax charges.

He was later pardoned by his father, who claimed that Hunter was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”

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Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) presided over one of the worst wipeouts for Republicans in contemporary electoral history. Nevertheless, he has kept his job as the top Republican in Congress’ upper chamber.

Though a small group of Republican senators opposed Thune’s re-election campaign, the four-term incumbent prevailed on Tuesday and will be the Senate minority leader come January.

‘I’m proud of what the Republican team has accomplished together.’

Thune has repeatedly drawn the ire of President Donald Trump’s base for failing to pass the SAVE Act, and Republican Sens. Ted Budd (N.C.), Mike Lee (Utah), Ron Johnson (Wis.), Rick Scott (Fla.), and John Kennedy (La.) signed a joint letter addressed to Senate GOP Conference Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) requesting that Thune’s quasi-coronation be delayed.

Ultimately, the effort petered out, and Thune ran for Senate minority leader unopposed.

“I appreciated the opportunity to have an open, honest, and transparent conversation with my colleagues today, and I am honored to have their continued trust and support to lead the Senate Republican Conference in the 120th Congress,” Thune wrote in a statement posted to X Tuesday afternoon.

RELATED: Jim Jordan snags top job as Republicans vote to shake up leadership after devastating midterms

‘I’m trying to be nice’: Trump piles pressure on Thune over SAVE America Act Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg/Getty Images

“I’m proud of what this Republican team has accomplished together, and we remain united in our commitment to advancing conservative priorities, working with President Trump and our colleagues in the House, and holding the line against Democrats’ efforts to enact their far-left, liberal agenda.”

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) was also elected as the new chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, replacing Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) as leader of the GOP’s Senate campaign arm as the party looks to regain its foothold in traditionally red states.

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President Donald Trump’s suggestion that he wants to work with Democrats on immigration could have enormous consequences for the Republican Party — and BlazeTV host Steve Deace believes it may become the defining moment of the 2028 election.

“If he cuts a deal for amnesty of any kind, it will irreparably split our base. It will irrevocably split it for the future,” Deace warns, noting that it has “become the number-one issue for our base.”

And while young men ages 18 to 29 are among the strongest Republican voters against amnesty, Deace explains that “Millennials are young men too” who “have families” and are “the ones working a lot of the jobs right now.”

“This is their number-one issue,” he says.

Deace believes that’s what could happen if Trump “really means it.”

But he also points out that Trump has offered Democrats a deal like this before.

“He did offer the Democrats a Dreamer amnesty, remember, in 2019, which they didn’t take, and it shut the government down. People got so pissed off, the government got shut down over something that was pretty obvious to them that Democrats backed away. They still didn’t take the amnesty deal,” he says.

That’s why Deace says it’s “also entirely possible that this is a shrewd and clever move.”

“Save your stupid never-Trump 4D chess. Some of you act like Trump is not permitted to have a triple-digit IQ. He’s been way more successful in life than 99.99% of you,” Deace says.

“It’s entirely possible that this is an attempt to entrap Democrats, to show that, ‘Hey, they promised you that they were going to run on fixing your issues, but they’re the same communist radicals they’ve always been. I offered them a deal, even ticked off my own base to do it, man,’” he continues.

“And Democrats still wouldn’t take the deal,” he adds.

Deace also sees a third possibility: that “Trump is facing real impeachment.”

“And I think the president cares greatly about not being the only president ever removed from office. So it’s entirely possible that he threw this out there as an olive branch to several limp-wristed, you know, low-T Republicans that he is worried will vote with Democrats to have him removed from office to make an example out of him,” he explains.

However, while Trump’s comment may mean “one of those three things today,” Deace says that could change.

“We’re just going to wait and see what it means, because ultimately, we’ll find out,” he says. “You know a tree by its fruit, right?”

“We’ll find out by what the president does with this, and that will tell us what it means,” he continues. “If it means he sold out his base, it’ll take us years to recover from this.”

Want more from Steve Deace?

To enjoy more of Steve’s take on national politics, Christian worldview, and principled conservatism with a snarky twist, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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