Bateman, Sanderson, Cruden, Moreland win primaries
Gaskins to face Murphy in 3rd Congressional District contest
Incumbent Dare County Commissioner Ervin Bateman will return for another term while the county’s current state senator, Bob Steinburg, was defeated in a redrawn district in the May 17 Republican primary election. At the same time, two Dare County Republicans were defeated a three-way race to become a District 1 Judge.
In the only primary race involving either a candidate for either the Dare County Board of Education or Dare County Board of Commissioners, Ervin Bateman pushed back a challenge from Mike Burrus for the at-large commissioner’s seat, winning by a margin of 63%-37%.
In redrawn N.C. House District 79, which now includes the southern part of Dare County, incumbent Republican Keith Kidwell retained his seat easily, winning 83% of the vote against challenger Ed Hege.
The NC Senate District 1 race pitted two Republican incumbents against each other in a redrawn district, Norman Sanderson and Bob Steinburg, who currently represents Dare County in Raleigh. Sanderson took a relatively tight race, winning 56% of the vote to Steinburg’s 44%. Steinburg did carry Dare County by more than 400 votes, but it was not enough to offset Sanderson’s advantages elsewhere in the district.
The contest to succeed Andrew Womble as District 1 District Attorney featured two assistant district attorneys in the Republican primary. Jeff Cruden defeated Kim Pellini by a convincing 59%-41% margin, helped by a big 78%-22% advantage in Dare County alone.
In the Republican primary race for a District 1 District Court Judgeship, Assistant District Attorney Jeff Moreland, of Hertford, prevailed against two Dare County residents – Jennifer Bland, who was appointed to the post by Governor Roy Cooper last year and then changed her party registration to Republican, and B.J. McAvoy, a Kill Devil Hills Commissioner and lawyer.
In a competitive battle, Moreland took 42% of the vote compared with 36% for Bland and 21% for McAvoy. In just Dare County, Bland finished first with 48% of the vote, but it was not enough to lift her over Moreland district wide.
The two primary races for North Carolina’s Third District seat in the U.S. Congress were not close. On the Democratic side, Greenville’s Barbara Gaskins captured 80% of the vote against Swansboro’s Joe Swartz.
In November, Gaskins will face incumbent Republican Congressman Greg Murphy, who handily fended off four GOP challengers, capturing 76% of all the primary votes cast.
Statewide, about 20% of all eligible voters cast ballots in the primary. In Dare County, turnout was a little lower, at about 17.4%. All results at this point are unofficial.
