Beaufort County goes Republican in national race

Published 10:44 pm Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Beaufort County voters overwhelmingly marked ballots for Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton and other presidential candidates in Tuesday’s general election.

With 19 of 21 precincts reporting by 10:40 p.m. Tuesday, Trump had 60 percent of the votes, to Clinton’s 37 percent of the ballots marked, with Libertarian Gary Johnson pulling 2 percent of the votes.

North Carolina, a swing state, was visited several times by Trump, Clinton and some of their family members in the last week before Election Day. Former President Bill Clinton, in an unannounced visit, campaigned for his wife Monday. Trump visited Raleigh on a swing through several states Monday.

Trump carried most precincts in Beaufort County except for Washington Ward 1, Washington Ward 2 and Washington Ward 3 (P.S. Jones), which went for Clinton. The only precincts not reporting by 10:40 p.m. Tuesday were Tranter’s Creek and Pantego, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections website.

Republican candidates in statewide contests fared well in the county, with most, if not all, of the Council of State contests going to Republicans.

In the U.S. Senate race, Beaufort County voters went for incumbent Republican Richard Burr over Democratic challenger Deborah K. Ross, with Burr collecting about 60 percent of the votes to Ross’ 36 percent. Libertarian Sean Haugh collected about 4 percent of the votes.

Beaufort County also went heavily for incumbent Pat McCrory in the gubernatorial contest, giving McCrory the nod over Democrat Roy Cooper, the state’s attorney general. McCrory tallied 61 percent of the vote to Cooper’s 38 percent, with Libertarian Lon Cecil getting 1 percent.

When the early voting totals (including absentee ballots) were released when the polls closed, Trump had 8,801 votes (59.06 percent) to Clinton’s 5,787 votes (38.83 percent). Libertarian Gary Johnson collected 208 votes during the early voting period. Write-in candidate Jill Stein got no votes during early voting. Miscellaneous write-in candidates garnered 106 votes during the 15-day early voting period in Beaufort County.

In the 3rd Congressional District, incumbent Republican Walter B. Jones handily defeated Democrat Ernest T. Reeves.

Forty-five percent (14,966) of the county’s 33,038 registered voters marked ballots during the early voting period (including absentee ballots).

Vote totals are unofficial until canvassed and certified by the Beaufort County Board of Elections on Nov. 18.

About Mike Voss

Mike Voss is the contributing editor at the Washington Daily News. He has a daughter and four grandchildren. Except for nearly six years he worked at the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early to mid-1990s, he has been at the Daily News since April 1986.
Journalism awards:
• Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service, 1990.
• Society of Professional Journalists: Sigma Delta Chi Award, Bronze Medallion.
• Associated Press Managing Editors’ Public Service Award.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors’ Award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Public Service Award, 1989.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Investigative Reporting, 1990.
All those were for the articles he and Betty Gray wrote about the city’s contaminated water system in 1989-1990.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Investigative Reporting, 1991.
• North Carolina Press Association, Third Place, General News Reporting, 2005.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Lighter Columns, 2006.
Recently learned he will receive another award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Lighter Columns, 2010.
4. Lectured at or served on seminar panels at journalism schools at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, Columbia University, Mary Washington University and Francis Marion University.

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