Board of Elections releases vote totals | Eastern North Carolina Now

    After the last key was turned on the last vote tabulator, and the last tape bearing results was printed, and the last precinct called in their results, at 8:30 p.m. yesterday the Beaufort County Board of Elections announced the winners of the 2010 primary election.

Long-time Beaufort County citizen Dan Cochran made it to the Washington Ward 2 precinct at the Washington Fire Department just before the 7:30 p.m. cutoff yesterday to mark a ballot for the primary election.

    In attendance, anticipating the results, were most of the nine candidates vying for a spot on the November ballot for the three available seats on the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners.

    The six commissioner candidates who made it past the primary, in order of votes cast in their favor, are: Democratic incumbent Ed Booth, with 1,669 votes; Democratic candidate Sonya Shamseldin, with 868 votes; Republican incumbent Stan Deatherage, with 854 votes; Democratic candidate Jerry Evans, with 680 votes; Republican incumbent Al Klemm, with 566 votes; and Republican candidate Cindy Baldwin, with 345 votes.

    Though Democratic candidate Darwin Woolard received 541 votes, more than the number of votes received by Baldwin, he will not go on to the next round, as there are only three Democrats and three Republicans allowed on the ballot for the general election. The campaigning also ends for Republican candidates Tony (T.J.) Keech Jr. and Buddy Harrell, who received 297 and 167 votes, respectively.

    Even with a low 24-percent voter turnout, there was a wide enough margin between each vote-getter in yesterday’s election to avoid a recount. Perhaps it was that Beaufort County Board of Elections Deputy Director Anita Bullock Branch said the election officials’ prayer when she got to work that morning at 5:30 a.m.: “Dear Lord, we don’t care who wins, just let them win big,” she said.

A plethora of civic-minded residents and politicians gathered at the Beaufort County Board of Elections in Washington yesterday to be the first to hear the primary-election results.

    Booth, who is running for his third term (and second full term), was at ease as the vote totals came in. Though he far surpassed the other candidates at the polls, he said he wouldn’t be satisfied with the same spread in November.

    “I’ve got to double the numbers,” he said.

    Booth attributed his success to his faithful and motivated supporters.

    “I went to the people that believed in me and would stay with me—and it turns out that they did stay with me,” he said. “I told them I needed them. I said, ‘I need you,’ and they came through.”

    Shamseldin said she was happy with her share of the vote, especially “for it to be such a low turnout.”

    In the 2004 election, Shamseldin ran as a Republican and didn’t make it past the primary. In 2008, she ran as a Democrat, won that party's nomination in the primary, and was the highest challenger in the genreal election. Evidently, affiliating with the Democratic Party helped her get more votes, but Shamseldin said she still plans to capitalize on some of her Republican ties in the general election.

    “In November I’ll be able to entertain Republicans—and I can do that, too!” she said.

Jim Vosburgh, Republican member of the Beaufort County Board of Elections, and Beaufort County commissioner Hood Richardson, with his granddaughter, wait for the precinct results to come in.

    Deatherage, who is running for his fifth term, was not expecting to be the top vote-getter for his party, and was apprehensive about placing at all, he said. After all the votes came in, and Deatherage found himself a sure victor, he mused on the explanation for his win.

    “The people of Beaufort County who took time out of their busy day to vote in this primary for me understand that I am the only true conservative choice for commissioner in this primary, be it for Republican or Democrat,” he said. “They also understand that I have also been faithful to the truth as a politician, which is a rare commodity for any politician that has served as long as I have.”

    Even though he breezed through the primary, Deatherage expects it to be different in the general election, once he is up against the Democratic candidates, who seem to have a more motivated voting base in this county.

    “My strategy in November, first and foremost, is to work harder and longer and be better prepared for the good, hard fight. I will be raising money for my campaign in November, which I did not do in the primary,” he said. “I will need to spend a good bit more money than I have in the past because, in these uncertain economic times, too much depends on my true conservative vote and my true conservative voice remaining on the board of commissioners. At this point in time, I am pledging to my constituents that I will work diligently to continue as that voice and as that vote.”

Beaufort County Board of Elections Chairman Tom Payne read the voting results from Gilead pricinct as Beaufort County commissioner Jay McRoy input them into a spreadsheet on his computer.

    Evans was pleased that he was able to secure a spot on the ballot in November, but regretted coming in last place for his party. He attributed his lower numbers to the fact that he is a virtual unknown in the political sphere.

    “I was hoping for more votes, but this is the first go-round for me,” he said, referring to the fact that he has never before run for public office.

    Evans reported that he visited every precinct on Election Day, stood in the rain, handed out cards and talked to voters. He said he plans to continue campaigning just as tirelessly.

    “I appreciate them coming out. I’m looking forward to November,” he said. “If anything, I’m excited about the fall.”

    Klemm, who is running for his second term, was satisfied with his finish on the Republican ticket—after fellow board-member Deatherage and ahead of newcomer Baldwin. Rather than campaigning, he left the fate of Election Day up to the public impression he already made during his first term as commissioner.

    “I’m right where I was in the last election—came in second place,” he said. “I didn’t campaign at all so far, really.”

    When asked to speculate on the November election, Klemm said the closeness of the race will depend on whether or not any of the candidates drop out.

Beaufort County commissioner Stan Deatherage hugs supporter Pam Nuckols after being declared top vote-getter in the Republican primary for commissioner.

    Republican Party Chairman Larry Britt is not expecting any of the Republican candidates for commissioner to withdraw from the general election, but said he wouldn’t be surprised to see a Democratic candidate withdraw from the race.

    “I think we’ve got three people who are in it to win it, not in it to drop out,” he said.

    However, Baldwin, the Republican candidate who garnered the least votes, said that even though she won her party’s nomination, she hadn’t decided on her next move.

    “I’ve got to talk to Stan,” she said.

    Rather than politicking at the polls yesterday, Baldwin said she went to work in Greenville and then to her home in Bath to teach a class on the U.S. Constitution.

    Baldwin said that her voters believed in her because she speaks the truth, fights for small business, and is “willing to defend the Constitution no matter how unpopular it is.”

    When asked on Wednesday evening if he had received a call from Baldwin, Deatherage said, “At present I have not heard from Cindy.”

    Deatherage said he couldn’t recall a time when the Republican candidate for commissioner with the least votes did not withdraw from the general election. He also said he could not recall a time when the Democratic candidate for commissioner with the least votes chose not to run.

    “I don’t think we’ve ever run three at one time,” he said.

(Tomorrow Beaufort County Now will fact check Deatherage’s memory with records from the Beaufort County Board of Elections.)

Primary Election - 2010     Click on the chart and you can then scroll up-down, left-right using arrow keys.


2010 Primary Vote Totals     Click on the chart and you can then scroll up-down using arrow keys.