It’s a safe bet that voter turnout for the July 17 second primaries in Beaufort County likely won’t reach 20 percent.
We would like to see a good turnout, but one thing history teaches us is turnout for second primaries is abysmally low. That’s a shame. While some of the races on the ballot for the July 17 primaries may not hold much interest for Beaufort County voters, there is at least one race that should hold the attention of those voters.
It’s the race between Beaufort County resident Arthur Williams and Mattie Lawson, a Dare County resident, to become the Republican nominee to take on Democrat Paul Tine, also a Dare County resident, for the 6th District seat in the N.C. House of Representatives.
It’s become somewhat of a contentious campaign.
Williams, who switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party last year, has been endorsed by Republican Congressman Walter B. Jones, who represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District, and Jeremy Adams, who finished third behind Williams and Lawson in the May GOP primary.
Lawson paints herself as the true conservative. Williams’ detractors contend he’s a Republican in name only and is nowhere near the conservative that Lawson is.
Our concern has more to do with Beaufort County being fairly and adequately represented in the N.C. General Assembly than which candidate is the more conservative one. The question voters must ask themselves is which candidate would best represent them in the Legislature.
As for Williams and Lawson (Paul Tine, you pay attention, too), they must remember the candidate who prevails in the general election in November must represent the entire 6th District, and that includes Beaufort County.
That, in part, is why this second primary is important.
Voters, keep that in mind.