One local contest in upcoming primary

Published 2:04 pm Friday, December 20, 2019

Only one local race will show up on local primary ballots in March, that being the Republican contest for the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners.

With filing closing this week, seven Republican candidates are running for four open seats on the board. Incumbents Jerry Evans, Hood Richardson and John Rebholz will appear on the ballot alongside challengers Galen Swain, Tandy Dunn, Gary Blount and Randy Walker.

Only four of these candidates will appear on the ballot during the general election. Democrats, meanwhile, will have two candidates on the ballot in November, incumbent Jerry Langley and newcomer John Carbone.

The contests for N.C. Senate and N.C. House are also set for November, with no primaries for either. For N.C. House District 79, Democrat Nick Blount will challenge Republican incumbent Keith Kidwell. Both candidates are from Chocowinity.

In the race for N.C. Senate District 3, Republican Thomas Hester Jr., of Henderson, will be up against Democrat Ernestine Bazemore, of Aulander. Both candidates currently sit on boards of commissioners in their home counties.

Finally, a number of incumbent candidates will run unopposed in both the primaries and the general election. These include Board of Education members Mac Hodges, T.W. Allen, Eltha Booth, Carolyn Walker and Terry Draper. Beaufort County Register of Deeds Jennifer Whitehurst will also be unopposed.

STATE OFFICES

For the governor’s office, only Republican voters will have a choice in March, between Holly Grange and Dan Forest. Democratic N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper will seek a second term in office, appearing on the ballot alongside Constitution Party Candidate Al Pisano and Libertarian Steven J. DiFiore. The following state races will be contested during the primary:

  • Democratic — N.C. Commissioner of Agriculture, N.C. Commissioner of Labor, N.C. Treasurer
  • Republican — N.C. Attorney General, N.C. Commissioner of Insurance, N.C. Secretary of State
  • Both parties — N.C. Lieutenant Governor, N.C. Auditor, N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction

JUDICIAL RACES

There will be no primaries in judicial races for local voters. N.C. Supreme Court, N.C. Court of Appeals and Second Judicial District Court judges are all unopposed in the primaries, and no one filed to run against incumbent District Court Judges Keith Mason and Chris McLendon.

FEDERAL

In the presidential race, those voting on the Constitution Party ticket will have two options, Libertarians will have 16 candidates to choose from and Democrats will select from a field of 15 office seekers. Republicans will have two options, incumbent Donald Trump or no preference. The Green Party will also have one candidate on the ballot during the general election.

For U.S. Senate, Democrats will have five candidates to choose from: Trevor M. Fuller, Steve Swenson, Cal Cunningham, Atul Goel and Erica D. Smith, who currently represents Beaufort County in the N.C. Senate. Republicans will choose between incumbent Thom Tillis and challenger Paul Wright. Libertarian Shannon W. Bray and Constitution Party candidate Kevin Hayes will be on the ballot in November.

While there will be no primary contests in March to represent North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District, Democrat Daryl Farrow, of Trenton, will face incumbent Republican Dr. Greg Murphy in the general election.

KEY DATES, CHANGES

One-stop voting for the March 3 primary election will run from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, Feb. 13-29 at the Beaufort County Board of Elections. Feb. 27-29, satellite voting sites in Belhaven and Aurora will be open during those same hours. On Feb. 29, the only Saturday of One-Stop voting, hours will be 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at all locations.

The deadline to register to vote on Election Day, or to change parties, is Feb. 7. Unaffiliated voters may vote in either Democratic, Libertarian or Republican primaries, but not Constitution or Green party primaries. Starting in 2020, voters must show a photo ID in order to cast a ballot.

For a full list of candidates running in 2020, visit www.ncsbe.gov.