Republican candidates for all races had a good night in Dare County.
With all of the precincts counted, Republicans swept the county — with just two exceptions, both incumbents. N.C. Rep. Paul Tine, beat his opponent, Mattie Lawson, with 52 percent of the vote to her 48, and District 2 Commissioner Max Dutton squeaked by his challenger, Beverly Gwyn Boswell, with just 60 votes.
And, with all of the GOP victories, The Dare County Board of Commissioners turned Republican.
Incumbent Democrat Virginia Tillett, running for her fourth term on the board, was beaten by newcomer Republican Margarette Midgett Umphlett by a vote of 53 to 47 percent. Republican incumbent Wally Overman won his race against Democrat Sandy Semans Ross — 57 percent to her 43 percent — to finish out the unexpired term of the late Richard Johnson.
Incumbent Republican Jack Shea handily beat Democrat challenger Bobby Culpepper with 60 percent of the vote to Culpepper’s 40 percent.
Republicans on the county board now number four — Shea, Overman, Umphlett, and Bob Woodard. Democrats have three members — Warren Judge, now the chairman, Allen Burrus, now the vice-chairman, and Dutton.
Republican incumbent Dean Martin Tolson beat Democrat Chrissy DeGabrielle Simmons for Clerk of the Superior Court with 60 percent of the vote.
Incumbent Republican Sheriff Doug Doughtie won over Democrat challenger Terry Ballance with a whopping 68 percent of the vote.
In the race for District Attorney, incumbent Republican Andrew Womble held onto his office against Democratic challenger, Nancy Lamb, by a vote of 57 percent to her 43.
Democrat Vanzolla McMurran-Smith was unopposed for county register of deeds.
Republican incumbent Bill Cook of Chocowinity will be returning to the N.C. Senate. He beat Democratic challenger Stan White of Nags Head in Dare County by a vote of 54 percent to White’s 46 percent. Cook won in Senate District 1 by about the same margin.
In addition to taking Dare County, Tine beat Lawson in N.C. House District 6 with 54 percent of the vote to her 46.
In the race for U.S. Senate, Republican Thom Tillis easily beat Democrat incumbent Kay Hagan in Dare County with 56 percent of the votes to Hagan’s 40. With 97 percent of the vote counted late last night, Tillis led Hagan statewide with 49 percent of the vote to her 47.
Republican U.S. Rep. Walter Jones won his 11th term representing North Carolina’s Third Congressional District. He trounced his Democrat challenger, Marshall Adame, in Dare County with 67 percent of the vote. Late last night, Jones was beating Adame statewide by about the same percentage.
Voters in Dare County and statewide also approved an amendment to the North Carolina constitution that allows a criminal defendant not facing a death sentence the option of waiving a jury trial. The amendment – the last item on the ballot — would require defendants in Superior Court who choose the option to state in writing or on the record in court that their right to a trial is waived. The action must also have the consent of the trial judge.
In Dare County, the amendment passed with 61 percent of the vote. Statewide, voters approved it by a vote of 53 percent for and 47 percent against.
In the 2014 mid-term election, 12,940 ballots were cast in Dare County. That was a turnout of 46.19 percent of the 28,016 registered voters.
Click here to see results for all Dare County races, including judicial races. For more information on statewide races and contests in other counties, go to http://enr.ncsbe.gov.
