ST. LOUIS – North Carolina voters elected their first Republican governor in two decades Tuesday as the GOP sought to broaden its hold on governor’s mansions across the country.

The victory by former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory came two years after Republicans snatched six governors’ offices in the midterm elections. Those victories gave the party 29 governorships to 20 for Democrats and one independent going into Tuesday elections, which were to decide 11 gubernatorial races.

When all the ballots are counted, Republicans could have as many as 32 governorships – a number the party has not achieved since the 1990s.