Seems a bit premature for AP to be calling for Tillis to me.
Tillis has been strong in Charlotte/Mecklenburg County, Greensboro/Guilford County and military down around Fayetteville.
But, he’s only at 41% in Wake County, home of the state capitol, Raleigh and second-largest county in the state. Brannon is winning in Asheville/Buncombe County. Harris is doing well in the northwest corner of the state other than Wilkes County. Harris is holding Tillis back substantially in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County to the point that Tillis falling below 40% there is a real possibility before it’s all said and done.
One thing’s for certain, Tillis may appear to be the likely winner, but is not going to sail comfortably past the 40% runoff threshold, it’s going to be closer than it is currently, just under 45%. A runoff is not completely out of the question yet.
Even when you posted this, it was nearly impossible for Tillis to get below 40%. Now, with 87% reporting and Tillis at 45%, he could get just 7% of the vote in the remaining precincts and still get over 40%.
Tillis will win with 44%-46%, which is far better than anyone thought a cew weeks ago.