Challenger Robert E. Neilson joined incumbents Matt Neal and Mark Batenic in victory in today’s Town Council election, according to unofficial results posted by the N.C. State Board of Elections.
The NCSBE reported the following vote totals, with 100 percent of the vote in:
Matt Neal: 672 (31.23%)
Mark Batenic: 578 (26.86%)
Robert E. Neilson: 554 (25.74%)
Mike Guarracino: 338 (15.71%)
Write-in: 10 (0.46%)
According to the NCSBE, about 38 percent of the total votes cast were cast during the early absentee one-stop voting period or by mail. See “Results by Voting Method” at https://er.ncsbe.gov/contest_details.html?election_dt=11/07/2023&county_id=28&contest_id=8.
No provisional ballots were recorded.
We do not yet know how many registered voters in Southern Shores cast ballots and what percentage of the electorate that number constituted.
ELSEWHERE IN DARE COUNTY . . . Incumbent mayors in Kill Devil Hills and Manteo lost, and challenger Kevin Lingard was the top vote getter in Duck, where all five seats on the Town Council were being contested.
A Friend in Duck? Mr. Lingard spoke at the League of Women Voters of Dare County’s candidates forum in Duck about cooperating with Southern Shores to improve the northbound summertime traffic flow on weekends. He even suggested controlling the pedestrian crosswalks in downtown Duck with volunteer or police monitors to limit traffic interruptions.
For a full report of the election results in Dare County, see The Outer Banks Voice.
The Beacon, 11/7/23
The Southern Shores Beacon 