Local political offices up for grabs

Published 11:49 am Monday, February 13, 2012

With filing slated to begin Monday, there are a host of local positions that will be open for those wishing to seek office.

Local changes begin with the North Carolina Senate and North Carolina House of Representatives, where redrawn districts will mean a shift in representation for several of the region’s counties.

Those in Bertie, Hertford and Northampton counties will now be a part of Senate District 3, which is currently represented by Democrat Clark Jenkins of Tarboro. Gates County will be in Senate District 1, represented by Democrat Stan White of Dare County.

Both seats will be up during this year’s election and filing will begin next week.

The North Carolina House will also continue to see a divide in representation in the Roanoke-Chowan region. District 27, represented by House Minority Whip Michael H. Wray, is comprised of Northampton and Halifax counties.

House District 5 will now be made up of Bertie, Hertford, Gates and portions of Pasquotank County. Incumbent Annie W. Mobley, a Democrat, represents that district.

In addition to the regional contests, there will be races for county commissioner, board of education and register of deeds locally.

Hertford County will see three commissioners whose terms expire at the end of the year. Commissioners Howard J. Hunter III (District 1), Ronald Gatling (District 2) and William “Bill” Mitchell (District 3) will be up for reelection.

In Bertie County, two commissioners will be up for reelection. They are the seats currently held by Commission Chairman L.C. Hoggard III in District 1 and that of Commissioner Norman M. Cherry Sr. in District 4. Both commissioners are registered Democrats.

There are also a pair of commissioners whose terms will expire in Northampton County.

They are Commission Chairman James Hester, who represents District 1, and the board’s Vice Chairman Virginia Spruill. Both are Democrats.

Gates County will have two commissioner seats up for reelection. They include those of current board chairman Graham Twine (Hobbsville District) and Henry Jordan (Sunbury District).

All four counties will hold filing for Register of Deeds. Two of the incumbents have announced they will not seek reelection. They are Bertie County Register Belinda White and her Hertford County counterpart Kathleen Wright.

Gates County Register of Deeds Sharon Harrell and Northampton County Register of Deeds Pauline Deloatch are up for reelection.

Two of the four counties will hold filing for their board of education.

Northampton County will have four members of the school board whose terms expire. They include William “Bill” Little, Marjorie Edwards, Erica Smith-Ingram and Lott Majette.

In Gates County, the terms of board members Joseph Ray Felton and Dale Saunders will expire at the end of this year.

Filing is open at 12 noon on Monday and will continue through 12 noon Friday, Feb. 29. Most elections offices are open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. with an hour for lunch that is usually 12:30-1:30 p.m.

For more information about registration call the local elections office in Bertie (794-5306), Gates (357-1780), Hertford (358-7812) or Northampton (534-5681).