Asheboro Elastics Corp., the company Crisco co-founded, confirmed that he died on Monday. The Asheboro Courier-Tribune, which first reported the news, said details about Crisco’s death were incomplete but that early information was that he suffered injuries from a fall. An employee at Crisco’s company also said he suffered a fall, as did Crisco’s campaign.

Crisco, a businessman and former state Commerce secretary, had been locked in a Democratic race against Aiken that remained without an official winner nearly a week after a hotly contested primary.

With all precincts reporting the results of last Tuesday’s election, Aiken led Crisco by fewer than 400 votes, while a third candidate, Toni Morris, lagged behind the two. Crisco did not concede the race, awaiting the results of a final count that would also include absentee ballots that continued to pour in after the election.