She thought it was in play because the Democrats had been actively working to PUT it in play for years. If you’ll recall, a liberal panel of judges struck down the voter ID law just weeks before actual voting was to begin (it was in place for the primaries). Plus, the Dems manufactured a controversy (initially in Charlotte) with the transgender bathroom issue, which the State Republicans blocked with HB2. This became a national issue, with the uber-liberal entertainment, corporate and college-sports “industries” pulling, or threatening to pull out of North Carolina. This was supported and followed dutifully by the propaganda media in Charlotte and Raleigh editorializing about the negative economic impacts on the State “caused” by the GOP.
There are also uber-liberal pockets (bastions!) in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, Asheville, & Boone - not coincidentally the sites of the major universities in-State. These folks are reliably and militantly Democrat voters, and always have been.
In the end, the State was tight-enough that, although Trump won, the Republican governor lost.
Governors race was a different beast than the national race... Again, for Hillary to think she could win a state Obama lost in 12 was pure delusion, then to know what the early voting breakdown was, which was known long before Tuesday, and to still think she could win was just denial.
NC was never in play, Trump took it by a larger margin than Romney, though Hillary did get 20k more overall votes that Obama in 12, she was still 80k under Romney’s 12 numbers... Let alone the fact Trump absolutely smoked Romney’s numbers in NC, getting almost 100k more than him.
NC was NEVER in play... and the race wasn’t tight. 180k and almost 3 points... Trump had it solid from day one... Hillary never stood a shot. NC was NEVER in play, just like OH and IA were NEVER in play. Lies made up to try to influence the outcome, not based on reality on the ground.