By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer
Incumbents beware — Democrats, Republicans and nonpartisan seat-holders alike.
Nearly every race destined for the ballot in Beaufort County is contested.
Friday’s close of the filing period foreshadowed battles to come, for everyone from congressmen to county commissioners.
Beaufort County commissioner
The Republican and Democratic candidates for Beaufort County commissioner appear to be headed for the May 4 primary election.
The filing period for all elected offices in the state closed at noon Friday and, by the end of the period, nine — possibly 10 — people were trying to capture the three available seats on the county board.
Five Republicans are running for three available, post-primary slots, meaning one of the candidates will have to be eliminated during the primary, provided no one drops out before then.
Three Democrats and three Republicans will move on from the primary to confront one another in the Nov. 2 general election.
The five GOP commissioner candidates include two incumbents, Al Klemm and Stan Deatherage of Washington, Cindy Baldwin of Bath and political novices Buddy Harrell of Edward and Tony “T.J.” Keech Jr. of Washington.
Keech said he works part-time as a contract security officer for the U.S. Marshals Service.
“I’d like to make a difference in the community and continue to keep taxes low,” he said.
Harrell, the owner of local winery Bennett Vineyards, said he hasn’t run for office before, but he added that he serves on the county GOP’s executive committee and has been the party’s Edward precinct chairman.
“I was hoping I might be able to make a difference,” he said. “I’m getting a little aggravated with all the tax-and-spend, and I’m very conservative.”
Baldwin, a former candidate for the Bath Board of Commissioners, recently joined the Beaufort County GOP’s executive committee. She couldn’t be reached for comment immediately.
Some local Republicans have floated the idea that they might employ a strategy used successfully in 2002, when the GOP dropped a candidate after the primary to consolidate voting strength around the two leading candidates.
The strategy was credited with giving the Republicans a majority on the county board, but it was unclear whether the party would employ that method a second time.
On the Democratic side, Washington real-estate broker Jerry Evans joins incumbent Ed Booth and Darwin Woolard, a former Washington councilman who was defeated in his re-election bid last year.
Among Friday’s last-minute filers was Sonya Shamseldin, a small-business owner and chairwoman of the Beaufort County Department of Social Services’ board.
Her presence ensured the Democratic primary that some in her party had wanted.
“One of the main reasons I am entering the race is because the citizens of Beaufort County who live outside of the city limits of Washington are not having their interests represented,” Shamseldin says in a news release.
On Wednesday, Booth said he hoped that he would have to take part in a primary because that would give him a chance to knock out the competition.
“I hope we have one,” he said.
He acknowledged that Woolard could draw some votes from him, though he emphasized his belief that Woolard couldn’t win in a countywide race.
Woolard couldn’t be reached for comment.
And there may be yet another entrant in the commissioner contest.
Bertie Arnhols of Aurora is collecting signatures to run as an unaffiliated candidate. She did not have to file during the filing period, but must present her voter signatures for verification later.
Beaufort County
Board of Education
Each school-board district in which a seat is up for election — save the one served by Aurora’s E.C. Peed of District 2 — is contested this year.
The District 4 slot is being sought by Terry Williams and Revondia Harvey Barrow, all of whom have Chocowinity addresses.
Candidate William Reed withdrew shortly after filing closed, effectively ending his candidacy.
District 4 is represented by William Warren, who did not file to run for re-election.
Williams said he is retired from Proctor &Gamble and is self-employed in real-estate property investments.
He said he has two daughters who were educated in Beaufort County public schools.
“I felt that since I had some time, it was time to return favors back to the county, and I don’t see a better way of doing that than serving on the Beaufort County school board,” Williams said.
In District 6, incumbent Teressa Banks will square off against Chase Stallings and Wayne Most. All three candidates have Washington addresses.
Stallings said he is director of human resources at National Spinning Co. in Washington.
He said he’s running because he wants to know more about what goes on inside the school system.
“And one way to be a part of everything is to be on the board,” he said. “I also feel like I have something to offer the community by being on the board.”
He said he has two young children in the school system.
Most is a former candidate for Washington mayor. He couldn’t be reached for comment.
In District 8, incumbent Cindy Winstead of Bath is being opposed by Ray Harris of Pinetown.
Harris said he sells fire-department supplies and equipment for Municipal Emergency Services of Charlotte, and covers 27 counties in the east.
“I’m not upset with anybody,” Harris said. “My child hasn’t been in trouble, and I don’t want to right wrongs or anything like that. I’m just a parent who wants to take a more active role.”
Other local races
Sheriff Alan Jordan, a Democrat, has a Republican sparring partner in Donald Dixon.
Dixon is the owner of a heating-and-air-conditioning repair business and a licensed private investigator.
State Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, of Manteo is running for re-election. Basnight represents Beaufort County.
Also vying for the Senate District 1 seat held by Basnight is Washington resident Hood Richardson, a Republican Beaufort County commissioner.
The seat held by state Rep. Arthur Williams, D-Beaufort, of Washington is being contested by Bill Cook of the Cypress Landing community. Cook is a retired power-company executive from Washington, D.C.
This is Cook’s first run for office.
Williams is in his fourth two-year term.
Marty Paramore, the Democratic clerk of Superior Court, has no opposition this year.
Also running unopposed are District Attorney Seth Edwards and Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons. Both serve in the 2nd Judicial District, which covers Hyde, Martin, Tyrrell, Beaufort and Washington counties.
Also in the 2nd Judicial District, four Washingtonians are trying to win the seat being vacated by retiring District Court Judge Sam Grimes.
The candidates are Watsi Sutton, Sonia Privette and Darrell Cayton, all private attorneys, and Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Jones.
It looked as if no one from outside the county was taking a stab at the Grimes seat.
District Court Judge Regina Parker is unopposed in her re-election bid.
On the congressional side, U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., R-N.C., of Farmville is in a primary race with Craig Weber of Morehead City and Bob Cavanaugh of Newport. Jones represents District 3, which covers much of northern Beaufort County.
Weber, a former television weatherman, last ran against Jones as a Democrat, but he has switched party affiliation.
Cavanuagh’s campaign Web site says he’s a retired Marine and a local small-business owner.
Representing the Democrats in the 3rd Congressional District race is Winterville resident Johnny Rouse, who won’t have to worry about a primary.
Rouse is the former chairman of the Pitt County Democratic Party.
Libertarian Darryl Holloman also is seeking to unseat Jones.
In the 1st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., of Wilson will have to deal with a primary, thanks to the entrance of Chad Larkins of Macon.
Larkins’ Web site says he founded and runs a commercial-construction company.
Larkins couldn’t be reached for comment immediately.
Butterfield will be confronted by one of four GOP rivals: Ashley Woolard of Washington, Jerry Grimes of Goldsboro, John Carter of Wilson or James Gordon Miller of Kill Devil Hills.
Carter, Grimes and Woolard were profiled by the Washington Daily News this week.
Miller couldn’t be reached for comment ahead of the profile. In a follow-up communication, he said he works as a paramedic and commutes to New Bern.
Statewide races
Six people are participating in the Democratic primary struggle for their party’s U.S. Senate nomination.
The six are William Marcus of Lumberton, Wilma Ann Worthy of Gastonia, Elaine Marshall of Raleigh, Ken Lewis of Chapel Hill, James “Cal” Cunningham of Lexington and Susan Harris of Old Fort.
Marshall is the widely known N.C. secretary of state. Lewis is a Chapel Hill attorney, and Cunningham is a former state senator.
Incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., will have to fend off three people in the primary. The three are Larry Rolando Linney of Charlotte, Bradford Wesley Jones of Lake Toxaway and James Edward Burks of Asheboro.
Libertarian Michael Beitler also filed to run for the Senate seat held by Burr.
On the judicial horizon, Barbara Jackson and Robert “Bob” Hunter, both of Raleigh, are running for N.C. Supreme Court.
Sanford Lewis Steelman Jr. of Weddington is running unopposed for N.C. Court of Appeals.
Two people — Mark Klass of Lexington and Jane Gray of Raleigh — are trying to unseat incumbent Ann Marie Calabria on the Court of Appeals. Calabria is from Morrisville.
Vying for an open appeals-court seat are Steven Walker and Richard Allen Elmore, both of Raleigh; Leto Copeley of Hillsborough and Alton D. Bain of Lillington.
Appeals court Judge Martha Anne Geer of Raleigh is being opposed by Dean Poirier of Mount Olive.
These updates were based on reports from the Beaufort County Board of Elections and the State Board of Elections’ Web site, which was updated at 12:20 p.m. Friday.