Heated North Carolina governor’s race ahead with Democrat Josh Stein vs. Republican Mark Robinson [Video]

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Democratic attorney general and the Republican lieutenant governor won North Carolina’s primaries for governor on Tuesday, setting the stage for what will be an expensive and high-stakes November contest in a state that the two parties see as a pivotal battleground.

Josh Stein and Mark Robinson, each of whom turned back multiple party rivals, will present stark contrasts for voters in the ninth-largest state’s fall elections. In separate election-night victory speeches, each candidate laid out policy and individual differences and said the other would harm the state’s economy if he reached the governor’s mansion.