Dan Bishop, the North Carolina legislator and lead sponsor of the notorious ‘bathroom bill’, has won a congressional seat in a narrow victory over his Democratic opponent.

A special district election was held as the 2018 election was nullified due to allegations of voter fraud on behalf of the Republican candidate Mark Harris, an anti-LGBT+ minister.

Harris stepped down and Bishop ran in his place with a campaign supporting Trump’s border wall, gun ownership, Christian values and a ban on late-term abortions.

Bishop won the Republican stronghold by just under two points – 50.6 percent to 48.8 percent – having gained supporters in the staunchly Conservative state over his backing of the ‘bathroom bill’.

Also known as HB2, the bathroom bill was signed into law in North Carolina in 2016, forcing trans people to use toilets in accordance with the gender marked on their birth certificate.

The legislation was widely denounced as discriminatory and prompted a huge backlash from businesses and celebrities, including Ringo Starrand Bruce Springsteen.

Cirque du Soleil cancelled all its events in North Carolina, while other performers such as Mumford and Sons and Cyndi Lauper said they would donate their profits from North Carolina gigs to LGBT+ rights organisations.

A federal lawsuit was launched by civil rights groups,and the law was struck down in July this year with a judge ruling that trans and non-binary people in North Carolina must be allowed to use the public bathrooms of their choice.