RICHMOND COUNTY- Primary elections on non-presidential election years typically have light turnout; the 2018 primary in Richmond County proved to be no exception.
There were a total of 5,092 votes cast. This is 17% of the 30,226 registered voters in Richmond County.
Connie Kelly, Director of Elections for Richmond County, “It was a long day for the poll workers and I would have liked to see a better turnout.” Kelly noted that this was the first time the county has used the electronic voter registration validation system and everything worked well.
Ernie Walters, Secretary of the Board of Elections said of election day, “It went very smooth and was uneventful.”
In the Democratic primary race for the Richmond County Board of Commissioners, newcomer Tavares Bostick was the top vote getter with 25.4% of the vote. Rick Watkins, was second highest at 22% with incumbents Don Bryant (20.5%) and Herbie Long (18.7%) also winning an opportunity to be on the ballot in November where they will all face incumbent Ben Moss and fellow republican candidate Jim Entwistle.
The Richmond County Board of Education saw a a non-partisan election where the top four candidates become new members of the Board. In a tight race, the winners were incumbent Bobbie Sue Ormsby (18.5%), Daryl Mason (17%), Joe Richardson (16.4%), and Pat Campbell (14.3%). Campbell only beat Aiken and Osborne by 97 votes and 99 votes, respectively.
Locally, in the state and national primary races, Dan McCready beat Christian Cano easily with 79.1% of the vote in Richmond County and 82.8% district-wide in the Democratic primary for the US House of Representatives District 9. On the Republican side, incumbent Robert Pittenger beat out Mark Harris with 60.8% of the vote in Richmond County but lost overall with Mark Harris taking 48.5% to Pittenger’s 46.5% district-wide. Only 825 votes separated the two candidates.
In the Republican race for the NC Senate District 25 seat, incumbent Tom McInnis easily won in Richmond County over Michelle Lexo of Pinehurst with a commanding 91.1% of the vote. McInnis also won the district overall with 61% vs. Lexo’s 39%. McInnis will go on to face Helen Probst Mills of Pinehurst in November.
Note: All election results on election night are unofficial. A county election is not complete until the county canvass; state-wide contests are not complete until the state canvass.
