Rep. Walter B. Jones carried every precinct in Beaufort County as he became the Republican nominee to represent the state’s 3^rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Jones, seeking his 12^th-consecutive two-year term in Congress, faces Democrat Ernest T. Reeves in the Nov. 8 general election.

In Beaufort County, 2,984 of the county’s 32,384 registered voters marked ballots, a turnout of 9.2 percent. Across the state, voter turnout was 7.68 percent, with 505,687 of the state’s 6,584,959 registered voters marking ballots.

“Actually, we were higher than I thought it would be,” said Kellie Harris Hopkins, elections director for Beaufort County, on Wednesday.

Hopkins said she’s not sure why the turnout was higher than she expected. “I believe the candidates — their media buys — have been on the radio and in the newspapers. We have been seeing the (campaign) signs. Seems like with second primaries or those that really have terrible turnout the candidates are not as involved in the electioneering process. The candidates for the 3^rd Congressional District have been very present,” she said.

Unofficial Beaufort County vote totals from Tuesday’s primary show Jones with 1,399 votes, followed by 325 votes for challenger Phil Law and 250 votes for challenger Taylor Griffin. In Beaufort County, Reeves tallied 507 votes to David Allan Hurst’s 424 votes in the Democratic primary to determine the Democratic nominee to represent the 3^rd District.

Throughout the 3^rd District, Jones collected 15,722 votes (64.83 percent) to Law’s 4,929 votes (20.33 percent) and Griffin’s 3,599 votes (14.84 percent), according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Jones carried every county in the district, which includes all or part of the following counties: Beaufort, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Greene, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Pitt and Tyrrell.

In the 3^rd District, Reeves received 6,402 votes (54.6 percent) to Hurst’s 5,323 votes (45.4 percent). Reeves carried Beaufort, Chowan, Camden, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Dare, Pitt, Greene, Lenoir, Onslow, Jones, Craven, Pamlico and Dare counties. Hurst carried Hyde, Currituck and Carteret counties. Reeves and Hurst tied in Tyrrell County with 48 votes each.

In the primary to determine the two candidates who move on to the general election to compete for a seat as an associate justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court, sitting Justice Robert H. Edmunds and Michael R. Morgan, a Superior Court judge, held off Daniel Robertson and Sabra Jean Faires. Edmunds collected 234,142 votes, followed by Morgan with 167,221 votes. Robertson and Faires fell short in their attempts to move on to the general election, with Robertson collecting 58,588 votes and Faires receiving 27,220 votes.

In Beaufort County, Edmunds received 1,334 votes, followed by Morgan with 838 votes, Robertson with 330 votes and Faires with 252 votes.

The Beaufort County Board of Elections will canvass ballots at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

In another election-related matter, the filing period for a seat on the Beaufort County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors begins at noon Monday at ends at noon July 1. The board has five members, three elected and two appointed by the North Carolina Soil and Water Conservation Commission.