Wesson pulls off big win in Bertie County

Published 3:22 pm Thursday, May 10, 2012

WINDSOR – Ronald D. Wesson unseated incumbent Bertie County Commissioner L.C. Hoggard III Tuesday night, according to unofficial results.

Wesson collected 2,634 votes in the Democratic Primary for the commissioner seat while Hoggard was named on 1,420 ballots.

“I want to thank the Democratic voters for electing me as the standard-bearer for the part in the race for the commissioner’s seat,” Wesson said. “I look forward to representing the party in the November election.

“I want to thank all the folks who worked so hard to support me to make this happen,” he added. “There are so many citizens who wanted to take Bertie County government in a new direction and to build a better Bertie as I’ve talked about in the campaign.”

Wesson said he was particularly pleased that his message of being a wise steward of taxpayer dollars and getting more citizens involved seemed to have struck a chord with voters.

The challenger won 11 of 12 precincts, according to the numbers, with Hoggard winning only the Roxobel precinct.

Wesson’s largest numbers came by way of One-Stop Voting where he more than doubled the incumbent’s totals. Wesson claimed 655 votes to just 320 for Hoggard.

Wesson also won by large counts in all three Windsor precincts. He garnered a 496-237 advantage in Windsor 1, a 178-54 margin in Windsor 2 and 141-67 in Windsor 3.

The challenger also claimed victory in Colerain 1 (117-82), Colerain 2 (274-122), Indian Woods (56-34), Mitchells 1 (92-62), Mitchells 2 (104-65), Merry Hill (106-94), Snakebite (143-61) and Whites (140-75).

Hoggard claimed victory in Roxobel by a margin of 135-114.

Wesson will advance to the November General Election where he will meet Republican Angela Simmons Bridges.

“This is not over,” Wesson said. “I am looking forward to November. If elected in November, I look forward to working with citizens to help continue to improve the county, particularly in the areas of economic development and a greater investment in public education. I think we can accomplish both those things by getting more every day citizens involved in the process. I also want to work with the other commissioners to accomplish those things.”