Did someone forward this to you? Click here to subscribe to this weekly newsletter.

Greetings, and welcome to your Under the Dome newsletter the day after the deadline for North Carolina ballots mailed in by Election Day.

Danielle Battaglia has been writing about those absentee ballot returns and Tyler Dukes has been keeping track of how many votes potentially remain to be counted.

Speaking of the mail, 1.1 million parents in North Carolina are receiving checks from the Department of Revenue for $335, thanks to the latest COVID-19 relief act, which spent federal CARES Act money. Find out more in my latest story about those checks for parents, and when to expect them.

In the U.S. Senate race in North Carolina, Democratic candidate Cal Cunningham conceded on Tuesday. The AP officially called the race on Wednesday. The Senate stands at 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats (or independents who caucus with the Democrats) and control of the chamber rests on two runoff elections in Georgia on Jan. 5.

The Democrats would need to win both to control the chamber with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris providing the tie-breaking vote. 

Republicans maintained their majority in the General Assembly, as Democrats failed to change control in either chamber. Lucille Sherman takes a look at a House race that unseated a Democrat incumbent in favor of a Republican newcomer and now the only Republican in the Wake County delegation.

Mark your calendars, folks: The General Assembly comes back to start its long session on Wednesday, Jan. 13.

Republicans have also maintained their seats on the Council of State, which is the 10-person group of statewide elected officials. Treasurer Dale Folwell, a Republican, told me this week that he’s still calling for a return to in-person meetings, and more information about the state’s COVID-19 response.

In other states this election, people voted about marijuana legalization. Will Doran explains why that’s unlikely to happen in North Carolina.

Thanks for reading. See you next time.

In the meantime, read more of our stories, follow our tweets and listen to Domecast, our North Carolina politics podcast.