ROCKINGHAM — One incumbent commissioner won’t make it to the ballot in November’s general election.
Commissioner Toni Maples, who is finishing up her first term, only secured 14.9% of the vote in Tuesday’s Republican primary.
Chairman Jeff Smart, on the other hand, was the frontrunner with 32.4%, with Commissioner Andy Grooms garnering 28.8%.
They will be joined by fellow Republican Jamie Gathings, as well as Democrats Deborah Washington Crumpton, Cassandra “DeeDee” Wall and Linda K. Ross, and Libertarian Richard Robinson. Michael Legrand is also running as an unaffiliated candidate.
Republicans made history when they took full control of the Richmond County Board of Commissioners for the first time following the 2022 election.
In the only other local race on the primary ballots, Jerry Ethridge and Ronald Tillman were reelected to the Richmond County Board of Education and will be joined by newcomer Bess Shuler.
All three each drew 26-27% of the vote, with challenger Michael Veach only securing 18.4%. There were also 182 write-in votes.
In the race for the 8th District of the U.S. House of Representatives — to fill the seat vacated by Dan Bishop, who is running for state attorney general — Richmond County Republicans preferred Mark Harris (28.5%) over local candidate Chris Maples (17.6%).
Other candidates in that race are: Allen Baucom (23.7%); John Bradford (18.9%); Leigh Brown (6.8%); and Don Brown (4.5%).
The results for that race across the district are similar, with Harris moving on to November.
Former president Donald Trump was favored overwhelmingly in the Republican primary over the other seven candidates on the ballot, taking 87.6% of the vote in Richmond County and 74.48% statewide.
The Richmond County Board of Elections did not feature the Libertarian ballot, but unofficial results with the N.C. State Board of Elections show 40.8% chose no preference in that presidential race.
The only one of the 10 candidates to garner more than 10% statewide was Chase Oliver (13.07%), who previously ran for the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives in Georgia.
Current Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson handily won over Richmond County Republicans in the race for governor (76.6%). He also took a distant lead statewide with 65.08%. Robinson will face Democrat Josh Stein, current attorney general, and Libertarian Mike Ross — who defeated Shannon Bray — in November.
Former state senator Jeff Jackson won out over Richmond County native Satana Deberry in the Democratic primary for attorney general statewide, although she secured nearly 55% of the local vote.
For more election results, visit the websites for the Richmond County Board of Elections and N.C. State Board of Elections.
All results are unofficial until canvassing on March 15.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the name of the lieutenant governor. 11:24 a.m. 3-6-24
