Wood: Hustle got it done

Auditor-elect Beth Wood said it was hustle that helped her unseat Les Merritt.

Wood, a former training director in the auditor's office, told voters that Merritt has injected partisanship into his work. She credited her efforts at getting that message out, hitting the bricks.

"People saw that the office is being run in a partisan way," Wood said.

Merritt said during the campaign that a Democratic-controlled state government would naturally accuse a Republican auditor of partisanship and that he was just doing his job.

"I am proud of the work our office did over the past four years, and I feel that we accomplished a lot of good things for the taxpayers of North Carolina," Merritt said in a statement. "While things did not go our way tonight, I am extremely proud of the campaign we ran.  I thank the people of North Carolina for allowing me to serve as State Auditor for the past four years, and I congratulate Beth on her victory.  Now, I will take some time to evaluate my next steps."

Wood will be one of six women on the council of state.

"It's not a big deal in the fact that it's all women," Wood said. "It's a big deal in the fact that I'm going to work with some of the most qualified people...I did not want anybody to vote for me because I'm a woman. It just so happend that I was the most qualified for the position."