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Orange County diverges from state in two Democratic races

Posted on May 8, 2008 by Staff

by Taylor Sisk
Staff Writer

Incumbent Lieutenant Governor and Chapel Hill resident Beverly Perdue scored a decisive victory on Tuesday, earning the Democratic nomination for governor over challengers Richard Moore and Dennis Nielsen. On an Election Day in which just over 36 percent of registered voters turned out statewide, Perdue gathered 56 percent of votes cast; Moore, the state treasurer, finished with 40 percent; Nielsen, a retired military officer, received 4 percent.

Moore faired slightly better in Orange County, finishing with 45 percent to Perdue’s 52 percent.
In the race for the Republican nominee for governor, Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory turned back four challengers and will face Perdue in the November general election. McCrory won 46 percent of the votes; state Sen. Fred Smith won 37 percent; attorney Bill Graham, nine percent; former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, seven percent; and Elbie Powers, a farm owner, one percent.

In the run for lieutenant governor, a couple of state senators from the western half of the state – Democrat Walter Dalton of Rutherfordton and Robert Pittenger of Charlotte – will be facing off in the November election.

Dalton gathered 45 percent of votes cast to defeat Hampton Dellinger (34 percent), Pat Smathers (14 percent) and Dan Besse (seven percent).

Orange County voters, however, favored Dellinger, 53 percent to Dalton’s 25 percent.

Pittenger won 59 percent of the votes in the Republican primary, defeating Jim Snyder (19 percent), Tim Cook (12 percent) and Greg Dority (10 percent).

Janet Cowell, a state senator and former Raleigh City Council member, won 47 percent of the vote to gain the Democratic nomination to hold Richard Moore’s state treasurer’s seat. David Young took 36 percent; Michael Weisel, 17 percent. She will face state Rep. Bill Daughtridge, who was unopposed for the GOP nomination.

With no candidate earning 40 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held to determine the Democratic nominee for commissioner of labor, who will then face unopposed Republican incumbent Cherie Berry.

Mary Fant Donnan finished first, with 28 percent of votes cast. John Brooks finished second with 24.29 percent of the vote, followed by Robin Anderson with 24,12 percent and Ty Richardson with 24.03 percent. As second-place finisher, Brooks may request a runoff, to be held June 24.

In the race for superintendent of public instruction, former state House co-speaker Richard Morgan won 51 percent of the vote to handily defeat Eric Smith (25 percent) and Joe Johnson (24 percent) and win the Republican nomination. He will face incumbent June Atkinson, who beat Eddie Davis, 53 to 47 percent, on the Democratic side.

In the state auditor’s race, former state auditor employee Beth Wood won 64 percent of the vote to Fred Aikens’ 36 percent, to win the Democratic nomination. Wood will face incumbent Les Merritt, who was unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Rockingham attorney Wayne Goodwin won the Democratic nomination for commissioner of insurance, defeating David Smith, 56 to 44 percent.

Jim Wynn will be defending his N.C. Court of Appeals seat against Jewel Ann Farlow in November. Wynn, with 48 percent of the vote, and Farlow, with 37 percent, were the top two vote-getters. Judicial races are nonpartisan, with the top two finishers squaring off in the general election. Dean R. Poirier finished third with 15 percent.

In the other race for an open court of appeals seat, Sam J. Ervin IV finished first with 36 percent of the vote, followed by Kristin Ruth, with 26 percent. Failing to make it to the November ballot were incumbent John Tyson, who gathered 22 percent of the vote, and Janet Pueschel, with 16 percent.

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