Roanoke-Chowan area voters went to the polls on Tuesday, the majority casting their votes for the incumbents in the 2006 Primary election.

Among the local races, only two incumbents were defeated n board of education members Rev. Gary Cordon (Bertie County) and Lafayette “Lott” Majette (Northampton County).

Cordon, a veteran Bertie School Board member, was defeated soundly by newcomer Alton Parker. Parker netted 2,229 votes while Cordon was named on 1,451 ballots.

In Northampton County, seven candidates, including three incumbents, were vying for the three contested seats. Challenger Don Johnson, a former member of the Northampton School Board, was the leading vote-getter with 2,189 votes. Incumbents Grace Edwards (1,997 votes) and Charles Tyner (1,822 votes) also returned to office, according to the unofficial results.

Majette placed fourth with 1,801 votes.

Locally, two incumbent sheriffs faced opposition in the primary and both won with ease. In Bertie County, Sheriff Greg Atkins (2,659 votes) easily outdistanced a pair of challengers n former Bertie Sheriff’s detective Eddie Graham (1,038 votes) and Robersonville police officer and Aulander resident Daryl Brockington (106 votes).

Northampton Sheriff Wardie Vincent also won another term in office as he garnered 2,661 votes to defeat his former Chief Deputy, Sheldon Skinner (1,720 votes).

Incumbents also ruled the roost in Hertford County where veteran commissioners Johnnie Ray Farmer and Curtis Freeman easily advanced to November’s General Election. Farmer (1,621 votes) defeated challenger Carl White (882 votes) while Freeman (1,498 votes) won over political newcomer Bill Burgess (971 votes).

Jasper Bazemore, incumbent commissioner in Bertie County, narrowly won his Primary race against newcomer Robert Brown. Bazemore was named on 1,726 ballots while Brown netted 1,591 votes.

In the battle for the open Bertie Board of Education seat in District 3, Michael Bracy advanced to the General Election by defeating Dean Stephens by a 2,346-1,191 count.

One other incumbent was favored by the voters as District 6B Attorney Valerie Mitchell-Asbell swept Bertie, Hertford and Northampton counties en route to defeating challenger Don Carter. The three-county total for Asbell was unofficially reported at 6,723 votes while Carter was named on 3,651 ballots.

The final results for the NC House of Representatives race for District 27 were not available. However, incumbent Michael Wray of Gaston swept his home county by a wide margin, collecting 3,843 votes compared to 34 for Howard Ervin and 140 for Anthony Butler.