Twenty-Six Candidates Compete for 3rd Congressional District Seat in Special Election
A total of twenty-six candidates have filed to compete in a special election for the 3rd Congressional District seat, which is vacant due to the passing of Republican Congressman Walter B. Jones on February 10, 2019.
The candidates include 17 Republicans, 6 Democrats, 2 Libertarians and 1 Constitution Party member, and the primary for the special election will be held on April 30.
The general election or primary runoff will be held on July 9, and if a runoff is required, the general election will be moved to September 10. (If no primary candidate receives 30% of the vote in April, then the runner-up candidate can request a runoff election.)
Representing all or part of 17 counties in Eastern N.C., the candidates include two Currituck County Commissioners, (Paul Beaumont and Mike Payment), three N.C. Representatives, (state Reps. Greg Murphy, Phil Shepard and Michael Speciale), Michele Nix of Kinston, who resigned her position last week as vice chairwoman of the North Carolina Republican Party, current New Bern Mayor Dana E. Outlaw, and former Greenville Mayor Allen Thomas. There are no local candidates from Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.
Filing ended at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 8, and running for the special election required both the necessary paperwork and a filing fee of $1,740
The North Carolina State Board of Elections stated that it “does not recall a field this big in the recent past” in a social media post, and the field of twenty-six candidates is one of the largest in recent memory.
The full list of candidates and their respective counties and party affiliations can be viewed online here.
