By Staff
Richardson whompscompetition to claimtop vote-getter title
By TED STRONG
Staff Writer
Incumbent Hood Richardson, with 4,968 votes, was the top vote-getter in Tuesday’s race for four seats on the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners, according to unofficial results.
The other three incumbents in the race are also standing to win seats: Jerry E. Langley with 3,863 votes, Jay McRoy with 3,110 votes and Robert Cayton with 2,727 votes, according to the Beaufort County Board of Elections.
Rounding out the ballot were Sonya Shamseldin with 2,544 preliminary votes, L. Stewart Rumley with 2,496 preliminary votes, Bertie Daniels Arnhols with 1,163 preliminary votes and Del Stutzman with 538 preliminary votes.
Richardson, a Republican, also placed first in 2004’s election.
Richardson said it’s “great” that he won with a more-than-1,000-vote cushion, and he thanked the county’s voters.
And he has plans for his next term.
Langley, the second-place vote-getter and a Democrat, attributed his success to his quiet listening on the board.
He also believes voters identified with him as a “regular, working guy.”
McRoy, a Republican, said his supporters responded to his record representing the entire county.
McRoy, the board’s chairman, said he was pleased with the results as a whole and that he thought the best four candidates had won.
Cayton, a Democrat, was thankful for his support.
Vote totals are unofficial and do not include provisional ballots. Kellie Harris Hopkins, Beaufort County’s director of elections, said she had not heard of any major irregularities at the polls on Election Day.
A provisional ballot is given to a person — on the day of a primary or election — who may or may not be eligible to vote. To keep from denying an eligible voter his or her right to vote, poll workers provide that person a ballot. Before counting a provisional ballot, elections officials determine if the person who marked the ballot is a registered voter eligible to vote in that election.
In other area election results, Democrat Arthur Williams was unopposed in his re-election bid to represent the 6th District in the N.C. House of Representatives. The district includes Beaufort County and part of Pitt County.
State Sen. Marc Basnight, a Democrat from Dare County, was unopposed in his re-election bid to represent the 1st District in the N.C. Senate. The district includes Beaufort County. Basnight is the president pro tempore of the N.C. Senate.
In the race for the 2nd District seat in the state House, incumbent Rep. Timothy Spear appeared to have been re-elected. Spear, a Democrat, was challenged by Republican Chris East and Libertarian Jesse Mignogna.