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Newcomers, familiar faces file for office

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Staff

Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Filing for county offices and state and federal legislative races opened this week with several newcomers joining incumbents in preparations for the May 5 primary and school board election.

This cycle will complete the transition of the Orange County Board of Commissioners to a mix of at-large and district representation.

Two years ago, the board expanded from five to seven members and the first round of district races was held. Incumbents in this cycle had to decide whether to run again as at-large candidates or in the districts in which they reside.

In the primary election, only residents of a district can vote for the candidate from their district. All residents can vote in the at-large primaries. Voters must be registered as either Democrat or Republican to vote in their party’s primaries.

Filing in the races opened Monday at noon.

Commissioner Alice Gordon, who has served on the board since 1990, filed to run in the District 1 Democratic primary.

District 1 roughly mirrors the boundaries of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district.

In her filing announcement, Gordon stressed her support for schools, environmental advocacy and work on transportation issues. She said she will focus on increasing public transit, improving older schools and supporting sustainable development.

Gordon was joined by Earl McKee, a farmer from Rougemont. “I have been concerned for years about the continued tax increases,” McKee said. The county, he said, needs to rein in spending and concentrate on its core services of law enforcement, schools, public health and trash collection.

McKee, who raises crops and cattle and sells hay to local horse farms, said he’s spent the past year attending more than 60 commissioner meetings and work sessions in preparation for running. “I really wanted to get an idea of what it was like and what would be required of me,” he said.

McKee, a Democrat, filed to run in the District 2 primary.

Also announcing that he would seek re-election this week was three-term incumbent Barry Jacobs, who will run in the at-large Democratic primary.

In his announcement, Jacobs cited his experience as a key strength. The county, he said, faces “an unsettled economic landscape and a period of significant transition within Orange County government.”

In addition to improving schools, environmental stewardship and shoring up the social services safety net, Jacobs said he would work to make the county government more cost-effective and customer-friendly.

County offices

Incumbent James Stanford of Carrboro filed to run in the Democratic primary for clerk of court.

Deborah Brooks of Hillsborough filed to run in the Democratic primary for register of deeds.

Hillsborough Police Chief Clarence Birkhead filed to run in the Democratic primary for Orange County Sheriff.

Legislative races

Bill Faison, who represents part of Carrboro, the northern two-thirds of Orange County and all of Caswell County, and Verla Insko, who represents much of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, both filed for re-election this week. Both are Democrats. Faison is in his third term and Insko is serving her seventh term.

They are expected to be joined by fellow Democrats Joe Hackney, who is speaker of the House of Representatives and represents parts of Carrboro, Chapel Hill and southwestern Orange County as well as Chatham County, and state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, who announced in January that she would seek another term. Kinnaird’s district includes Orange and Person counties.

The race for the Fourth U.S. Congressional District could end up being a rematch if Democratic Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill and Republican B.J. Lawson of Cary prevail in their respective primaries. Price filed this week and Lawson announced he would do so soon. Lawson will join George Hutchins of Raleigh and Frank Roche of Apex in the GOP primary.

In addition to the primaries, the May ballot will feature the race for four seats on the Orange County Board of Education. So far, Will Atherton and incumbent Debbie Piscatelli, both of Hillsborough, have filed in the non-partisan race.

Chatham races

Incumbent commissioners Tom Vanderbeck, who represents District 4, George Lucier, who represents District 3, and Carl Thompson, who represents District 5, have filed for re-election. All three are Democrats. Republicans Brian Bock and Cadle Cooper have filed to run in the District 3 GOP primary.

Sheriff Richard Webster and Clerk of Court Sam Cooper, both Democrats, have also filed for re-election.
In legislative races, Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Atwater and Republican Roger Gerber have filed.

Candidate filing statements and election information is available on The Citizen’s voter resource site at carrborocitizen.com/politics

1 thought on “Newcomers, familiar faces file for office”

  1. Ruby Sinreich says:
    February 21, 2010 at 7:42 pm

    CORRECTION! This statement is not true: “Voters must be registered as either Democrat or Republican to vote in their party’s primaries.”

    In fact, *unaffiliated* voters may vote in either party’s primary without changing their affiliation. This is a common misconception, because it wasn’t always so, but this has been the law in North Carolina for over 10 years now.

    I have even met election judges who were not aware of this, but I verified it with the Elections Director myself and I’m living proof that you do not have to be a Democrat to participate in their primary.

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