Democratic nominee Joe Biden and President Trump were in a virtual tie late into Tuesday evening in North Carolina, a key swing state that Trump carried in his 2016 presidential victory.

With close to 85 percent of expected votes counted, the former vice president was leading Trump by just 0.4 percent, according to voter returns.

Trump won North Carolina in 2016, a key victory that helped deliver him the Electoral College in his race against Hillary Clinton.

The Southern state has swung back and forth between the parties in recent presidential elections, with Mitt Romney carrying the state in 2012 and Democrat Barak Obama winning it in 2008.

By soon after 9 p.m., Tuesday’s presidential election was too early to call, with returns in other key battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio still not clearly favoring one candidate.