ROCKINGHAM — Three candidates have filed for the U.S. House seat representing Richmond County, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections.
The Rev. Mark Harris of Indian Trail, Don Brown of Matthews and state Rep. John R. Bradford III have all thrown their proverbial hats in the ring for the seat.
Harris, who beat then-incumbent Robert Pittenger in the 2018 Republican primary and defeated Democratic challenger Dan McCready in the November election, announced his intent to run in September.
Although McCready had conceded, a voter fraud investigation into Harris’ campaign led to the pastor dropping out and a special election.
Rep. Dan Bishop — who won that special election — is vacating the seat in his bid for state Attorney General.
Don Brown is a former U.S. Navy JAG officer, constitutional attorney and author, who has appeared on several Fox News programs, according to his campaign site.
Bradford is serving his fourth term in the N.C. House of Representatives. His campaign website was “being updated” Monday evening.
Two other candidates have announced plans to run, but have not yet filed: Leigh Brown, a realtor, motivational speaker and author from Harrisburg (Cabarrus County); and Union County businessman Allan Baucom.
There have yet to be any candidates to file from the Democratic, Libertarian or Green parties.
As of Monday afternoon, it appears Bishop will not have an opponent in the Republican primary for the AG race. As it currently stands, he will have to face off in November against the winner of the Democratic primary, which will be either Richmond County native Satana Deberry or Fayetteville attorney Tim Dunn.
Click here to read more about Deberry.
Dunn is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill and Campbell University and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.
At least two other Democrats, state Sen. Jeff Jackson of Mecklenburg County and Duplin County attorney Charles Ingram have announced plans to run, but had not filed as of Monday, according to SBOE records.
As for local politics, Commissioner Andy Grooms filed for reelection on Dec. 6 and Republican Jamie Gathings filed for the commissioners’ race on Dec. 7.
No one filed on Dec. 8 or 11, according to the Richmond County Board of Elections.
Click here to read more about Day 1.
Click here to read about Day 2.
SBOE records show that District Court judges Amy Wilson and Sophia Gatewood have also filed for reelection.
State Sen. Dave Craven, R-Randolph, remains unopposed in his reelection bid; and Jimmy Self of Aberdeen is running as a Democrat against state Rep. Ben Moss, R-Richmond, for the N.C. House District 52 seat.
