Beaufort County to vote for Arthur Williams to replace Basnight | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Losing his N.C. House seat to Republican Bill Cook in the last general election may have been the best thing Arthur Williams ever did for his political career.

    After today's Beaufort County Democratic Party Executive Committee meeting, it seems that Williams is Beaufort County's top pick to replace N.C. Sen. Marc Basnight (D-Dare) when Basnight retires Jan. 25.

    Though the Senate's prerogatives and powers are similar to those of the House of Representatives; its members do, however, represent larger districts. If appointed to Basnight's seat, the scope of Williams' influence would increase from that of N.C. House-District 6, representing constituents from Beaufort and Pitt counties; to that of N.C. Senate-District 1, representing Beaufort, Camden, Currituck, Dare, Hyde, Pasquotank, Tyrrell, and Washington counties.



    Today, the Beaufort County Democratic Party Executive Committee elected two delegates, John Murphy and Rev. David Moore, self-proclaimed Williams-supporters, to the Senatorial Executive Committee, which is meeting this Friday to select Basnight's replacement.

    Murphy and Moore are expected to cast the county's 150 votes for Williams, a decision that is ultimately theirs to make, according to Beaufort County Democratic Party Chairwoman Alice Mills Sadler. Beaufort County has the largest population among all District 1 counties and, therefore, controls the largest share of votes in the district's Senatorial Executive Committee: 150 of 529.

    "Those votes are in your hands now. You cast them. We cannot compel you to go in for anybody. So, the executive committee is not going to get in to that," said Sadler at today's meeting.

    Though there was no official candidate chosen for Murphy and Moore to promote, the courtroom was filled with Williams-supporters, a faction of which were carrying posters marked "Teachers for Williams."

    "Looking around the room I think it's pretty obvious what the Democratic sentiment is," said Murphy at today's meeting.

    Williams seemed relieved to have secured the nomination to the Senatorial Executive Committee of two of his supporters.

    "I've got both of them. They're my people. And am glad they got it, so I don't have to worry about it. I've got my 150 votes in this county. I can about feel sure of that," said Williams in an interview after the meeting.



    Williams said he will embark upon a blitz-campaign over the next six days to try to secure the support of the delegates from other counties.

    "We got the most votes, so I needed to get all my votes and make sure I had all of them, before I ask the other counties for there's," said Williams.

    Williams sees himself as the natural selection for Basnight's unexpired term. According to Williams, he enjoys the support of the North Carolina Democratic Party and the Washington/Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce, along with groups of people across the state.

    "I've been approached by everybody. Let me tell you, in this process, the Democratic Party told me yesterday in Raleigh, that I'm the only candidate that's got any experience. I've got eight years. Senator Basnight was my Senator here in this county. So, I worked with his staff," said Williams. "Everybody in the state knows that I'm the top contender. I'll tell you, I am really honored. I've got people from all across North Carolina: from judges, to farmers."

    Moore agreed that Williams is in a league above the other possible candidates.

    "I've heard of seven or eight that are in the race. And, I would imagine, by next Friday it'll probably be maybe nine or ten who end up running. Most of them will be not real serious challengers," said Moore. "There's one or two that I think could mount a challenge."

    The Tyrrell County Democratic Party is unorganized and had to forfeit its 14 votes. Therefore, the total available votes to be cast by the Senatorial Executive Committee dropped from 529 to 515. The six other District 1 counties will be sending two delegates each to cast their county's portion of the 515 available votes. The Senatorial Executive Committee will decide, on Friday, if it will elect Basnight's replacement based on a simple majority, or if it will elect the top vote-getter, said North Carolina Democratic Party District Chair Chris Hardee at today's meeting.

    After the committee reaches a decision, it will recommend a successor for N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue to appoint; though her role is more of a formality, said Hardee.

    "Quite honestly, the governor does the appointing, but she doesn't have a choice in the matter. She has to do what we tell her for once," he said.

    The Senatorial Executive Committee meeting is set for Friday, Jan. 21, at 6:30 p.m. in the town of Columbia. The delegates will decide Friday whether or not they will allow the candidates a chance to speak at the meeting.