GOP Rep. Hudson holds on to North Carolina seat

GOP Rep. Richard Hudson is projected to have edged out his Democratic opponent, Patricia Timmons-Goodson, in the race for North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the race at 10:47 p.m. EST.

Hudson, who was first elected to Congress in 2012, faced his most difficult race yet after the lines of his district were redrawn to be slightly less Republican-leaning, putting the seat in play.

Polls showed the candidates within points of each other in the weeks leading up to the election.

Timmons-Goodson, the first black woman on the North Carolina Supreme Court, placed a strong emphasis on health care and civil rights issues during the course of the campaign, while Hudson placed a focus on veterans issues and the military.

Nonpartisan political handicapper The Cook Political Report ranked the race as “lean red.”