CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C.,None — Four Republican candidates for three Cleveland County Board of Commissioners seats will face a primary in May while the lone Democratic hopeful will advance to the general election in November.
Five people filed to run for the three seats now held by Ronnie Hawkins, Johnny Hutchins and Mary Accor. Incumbents Hawkins and Hutchins face challenges from fellow Republicans Susan K. Allen and Jeff Gregory. The primary will eliminate one of the four Republican candidates, but as the only Democrat, Accor will advance to the Nov. 6 general election.
The filing period for local offices ended at noon Wednesday. The five commissioner candidates, along with two candidates for the Cleveland County register of deeds and state Rep. Tim Moore, R-District 111, were the only individuals to seek office in Cleveland County, though some state and regional office-seekers who will appear on local ballots filed in their counties of residence or with the N.C. State Board of Elections.
“I’m so disappointed that there aren’t more people interested in serving their fellow Cleveland countians,” said Debra Blanton, county elections director.
Candidate filing opened on Feb. 13 and closed Wednesday. Six of the eight candidates completed their paperwork on the first day of filing.
Shelley Wray Robert, a Democratic candidate for register of deeds, was the first to file Feb. 13. She faces incumbent Register of Deeds Bonnie E. Reece, also a Democrat, in the May 8 primary. No Republicans filed for the countywide office.
“Unless there’s a write-in candidate or an unaffiliated candidate jumps in, the (Democratic) nominee for the register of deeds will be elected in November as the register of deeds, which is an interesting situation,” Blanton said.
One judicial race contested
Just one of the four Cleveland County District Court judges seeking re-election will face a challenger in May. Gwynn G. Radeker, a retired assistant district attorney, has filed to run for Judge Meredith Shuford’s district court seat.
Shuford and Radeker filed for office at the State Board of Elections in Raleigh.
The remaining three district court judges for Judicial District 27B, which comprises Cleveland and Lincoln counties, are running unopposed, according to the State Board of Elections. They are K. Dean Black, Dina Foster and Larry J. Wilson.
First-time voters
High-schoolers preparing to vote in their first presidential election in November are eligible to vote in the May 8 primary as long as they turn 18 before the Nov. 6 general election, Blanton said.
“The primary election is an extension of the general election,” she explained.
While 17-year-olds will be able to vote in the primary, their ballots won’t include Amendment One, the proposed constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, Blanton said. Residents must be 18 to vote on referenda.
The deadline to register to vote in the May 8 primary is Friday, April 13. One-stop early voting will run from April 19-May 5.
WSOC
