Primary results verified

Published 9:46 am Monday, May 21, 2012

There will be a second primary on July 17, but none of the local races will be on the ballot.

After the canvass of results was finished earlier this week, no races in Bertie, Gates, Hertford or Northampton counties were close enough to need a runoff.

Two Hertford County races were close, but ended without the need for a runoff. District 2 Commissioner Ronald Gatling finished with slightly more than 41 percent of the vote in his three-way race with Justin Freeman and Kathleen Wright to be declared the winner.

Also, Melanie Storey won the Register of Deeds race with 40.9 percent of the vote in a four-way race against Elvira Spiers, Deborah Morrison and Gilda S. Robertson.

With more than two candidates in a race, the top vote-getter must have 40 percent plus one vote to be declared the winner.

The state races, however, were a different story.

According to the North Carolina Board of Elections, there will be a second primary for both Democrats and Republicans. The Democratic ballot will have only one race while Republican voters will make decisions on four races.

On the Democratic side, voters will choose the candidate to challenge incumbent Republican Commissioner of Labor Cherie Berry. Former Labor Commissioner John C. Brooks claimed 289,356 votes in the Democratic primary, but fell short of the required percentage to avoid a runoff.

Second place finisher Marlowe Foster, who had 256,964 votes, requested the second primary. Ty Richardson finished last with 232,731 votes.  Foster has worked for two Fortune 500 companies.

Republicans will have to choose a nominee for Lt. Governor, Commissioner of Insurance, Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction.

In the race for Lt. Governor, Dan Forest finished as the top vote-getter on the Republican ticket with 253,656 votes or roughly 33 percent. Tony Gurley was the second place finisher with 190,980 votes and requested the second primary. Gurley narrowly edged third-place finisher Dale Folwell who had 186,564 votes.

Forest is a former partner with Little Diversified Architectural Consulting while Gurley is a Wake County Commissioner.

In the race for the Republican nomination for Insurance Commissioner, former state representative Richard Morgan garnered 258,938 votes to edge out retired insurance executive and lobbyist Mike Causey with 245,430 votes. Causey called for a second primary. James McCall, a Mooresville insurance agent finished third.

The winner will face incumbent Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin in November.

The Republican race for Secretary of State was a wide open process with four candidates. Ed Goodwin, a Chowan County Commissioner, led the race with 246,641 votes with Wake County Commissioner Kenn Gardner second with 204,630 votes. Gardner called for the second primary.

The winner will face incumbent Democrat Elaine Marshall in November.

The final race on the Republican ballot will be for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Five Republicans sought the party’s nomination for that office with Wake County Board of Education member John Tedesco leading the way with 195,352 votes.

He was challenged to a second primary by Richard Alexander, a former educator, who received 167,354 votes. The winner will face incumbent Democrat June Atkinson in November.