ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County saw another red wave with Republican candidates securing overwhelming victories in most races.
Chairman Jeff Smart and Andy Grooms will be joined in December on the Richmond County Board of Commissioners by fellow Republican Jamie Gathings, according to preliminary results from the Richmond County Board of Elections.
Smart and Grooms were both first elected in 2020, along with Toni Maples.
Each of the three Republicans secured at least 19% of the vote.
Democrat Linda Ross was the fourth-highest vote-getter, followed by Cassandra (DeeDee) Wall and Deborah Washington Crumpton.
Voters appear to have stuck to the major political parties, as unaffiliated candidate Michael Legrand and Libertarian Richard Robinson polled much lower.
Legrand ran in 2020, losing by only 83 votes to Grooms after a recount.
Until 2020, the only Republican elected to the board in more than a century was Ben Moss, but became an all-Republican board in 2022 with the election of Justin Dawkins — who was appointed to fill the remainder of the term vacated by Moss following the 2020 election to the N.C. House of Representatives — Robin Roberts, Jason Gainey and Dr. Rick Watkins, the latter of whom switched parties.
As of 10:30 p.m., with 73% of precincts reporting Moss looked to be winning his reelection bid to state House District 52 with more than 60% of the vote over challenger Jimmy Self, a Moore County Democrat. Moss won his home county of Richmond with 62.4% of the vote.
State Sen. Dave Craven, R-Randolph, also looked to secure his seat with a win over Richmond County Democrat Kevin Clark.
District Court Judge Amanda (Amy) Wilson, Register of Deeds Kimberly Roberts and Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor Jeff Joyner all ran unopposed.
The RO will have more on how Richmond County voted in the other state and national races at a later time.
All results are unofficial until canvassing.
