Early voting for the March 5 “Super Tuesday” primary election, in which voters statewide will select nomination preferences for the U.S. presidency and N.C. governorship and Dare County voters who vote in the Republican primary will determine two of three seats up for election on the Dare County Board of Commissioners, will begin tomorrow and run until Sat., March 2.
The voting will take place at Kill Devil Hills Town Hall, the Dare County Board of Elections Office in Manteo, and the Fessenden Annex in Buxton, during the following hours:
Weekdays from Thursday, Feb. 15, through Friday, March 1, from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Sat., March 2, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., in Manteo and Kill Devil Hills, and March 2, from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., in Buxton.
There will be no early voting over the weekends of Feb. 17-18 and Feb. 24-25.
Voting on March 5, Primary Election Day, will be in the Kern Pitts Center for Southern Shores residents, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Registered Republicans, Democrats, and Libertarians will have their own ballots in the primary, while voters registered Unaffiliated, the most popular party designation in North Carolina, with 37 percent of all registered voters, will be able to choose the party primary in which they participate.
Although the two-year terms of all members of the N.C. House of Representatives and the U.S House of Representatives are expiring, none of the political parties has a primary in Dare County for an N.C. or U.S. district office.
Incumbent N.C. House Representative Edward C. Goodwin (R), who represents Dare County in House District 1, will oppose Susan A. Sawin (D) in November.
Congressman Gregory Murphy, who represents Dare in U.S. Congressional District 3, faces opposition from Libertarian Gheorghe Cormos in November, but does not have a Democratic opponent.
Republicans and Unaffiliated voters in the Republican primary, however, will vote on three seats on the seven-member Dare County Board of Commissioners, only one of which will be contested in the Nov. 5 general election. These candidates are:
Wally Overman vs. Carson Creef for one of the two District 1 seats that represent Roanoke Island and the Dare County mainland on the Board;
Christian Thomas Hayman vs. Robert L. Woodard, District 2, representing Nags Head, Colington, and Kill Devil Hills; and
Bea Basnight vs. Mike Burrus, for the other District 1 seat, to fill the unexpired term of the late Jim Tobin that runs until 2026.
Ms. Basnight, a retired teacher and former member of the Dare County Board of Education for 12 years, was appointed in December to fill Mr. Tobin’s seat until the November election. Mr. Burrus, a businessman in Wanchese, ran unsuccessfully in 2022 for the at-large seat now held by Ervin Bateman on the Dare Board of Commissioners.
The victor in the Hayman-Woodard primary race will face Democratic challenger Katie Morgan of Colington in November.
Other highlights on the ballots include nominations for:
U.S. PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE
On the Republican ballot, the nominees are (in the order that they appear):
- Ron DeSantis
- Nikki Haley
- Asa Hutchinson
- Vivek Ramaswamy
- Donald J. Trump
- Ryan Binkley
- Chris Christie
- No Preference
On the Democratic ballot, the nominees are:
- Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
- No Preference
The Libertarian Party ballot has 10 nominees for U.S. president, in addition to the “No Preference” choice.
N.C. GOVERNOR
On the Republican ballot, the nominees are (in the order that they appear):
- Dale R. Folwell, the incumbent state treasurer
- Bill Graham, an attorney from Salisbury
- Mark Robinson, the incumbent lieutenant governor
On the Democratic ballot, the nominees are:
- Gary Foxx, a law enforcement veteran from Edgecombe County
- Michael R. (Mike) Morgan, a retired N.C. Supreme Court justice
- Josh Stein, the incumbent attorney general
- Marcus W. Williams, an attorney from Lumberton
- Chrelle Booker, a realtor and mayor pro tem of the Tryon Board of Commissioners
The Libertarian Party has two nominees vying for the Governor’s office: Mike Ross and Shannon W. Bray.
The Green Party is running candidates for U.S. president and N.C. governor in November, but is not holding a primary election.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, ATTORNEY GENERAL
Eleven people are vying for the Republican Party nomination for N.C. lieutenant governor, while Democrats have a choice of three nominees. We refer you to “Your Guide to the Latest Candidates in North Carolina’s Statewide 2024 Elections” by CityView staff, 12/8/24, for a list of the candidates with short biographies on each. The link is posted below.
Democrats will be choosing their party’s nominee for N.C. Attorney General from among three people in the primary: Satana Deberry, incumbent district attorney in Durham County; Tim Dunn an attorney in Fayetteville; and U.S. Representative Jeff Jackson, an attorney who represents parts of Mecklenburg and Gatson counties.
The Republican candidate for N.C. Attorney General in November will be U.S. Representative Dan Bishop, an attorney who represents Anson, Davidson, Montgomery, Rowan, Stanley, and Union counties, and parts of Cabarrus and Richmond counties.
OTHER STATEWIDE OFFICES
Voters in the Republican primary in Dare County have choices for the following offices:
- N.C. Auditor
- N.C. Commissioner of Agriculture
- N.C. Commissioner of Insurance (incumbent Mike Causey is running for reelection)
- N.C. Commissioner of Labor
- N.C. Secretary of State
- N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction
- N.C. Treasurer
- N.C. Court of Appeals Judge (Seat 15)
Voters in the Democratic primary have far fewer choices, but the Democratic Party does have a candidate running in each of the above statewide offices in the November election. In the primary, Democrats and Unaffiliateds voting Democratic will decide the party nominees for the following offices:
- N.C. Commissioner of Insurance
- N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction
- N.C. Treasurer
- N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice (Seat 6)
For more information about N.C. primary candidates, see:
The League of Women Voters’ voters’ guide at https://www.vote411.org/ballot
The Raleigh News & Observer voters’ guide at https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics- government/election/voter-guide/ (available without a subscription)
“Your Guide to the Latest Candidates in North Carolina’s Statewide 2024 Elections” by CityView staff, 12/8/24: https://www.cityviewnc.com/stories/your-guide-to-the-latest-candidates-in-north-carolinas-statewide-2024-elections,66922
For information about judicial candidates, see the N.C. State Board of Elections at : https://www.ncsbe.gov/voting/upcoming-election/judicial-voter-guide-2024-primary-election.
By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 2/14/24
The Southern Shores Beacon 