After weeks of legal drama involving vote recounts and charges of possibly illegal voting, Gov. Pat McCrory announced on Monday that he was giving up his bid to win re-election, paving the way for Democrat Roy Cooper to be the next Governor of North Carolina.

“I personally believe that the majority of our citizens have spoken,” McCroy said.

“Thank you for the honor to serve the great state of North Carolina,” the Governor said in a surprise video release.

Cooper’s lead had stabilized – even increased a little – after some contentious recount efforts, settling around a 10,000 vote advantage over the incumbent Governor.

Their recount fight had spawned increasingly partisan battling between the two parties, as Democrats charged the GOP was trying to overturn the verdict of the voters – but little had changed in terms of the numbers.

The announcement came as votes were still being recounted in Monday in Durham County, a heavily Democratic area.