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Mark Brooks, Thurza McNair win school board seats
By Carey Phillips
Businessman Mark Brooks and retired educator Thurza McNair were elected to the Jackson County Board of Education Tuesday.
While the election was a primary for most races, the non-partisan voting for school board candidates was final.
In District 1, Brooks polled 1,072 votes to 912 for Barbara Jones. They were followed by Jim Hartbarger (806) and Jarrett Crowe (92).
Although Brooks’ percentage of 37.1 was less than 40 percent, no runoffs are held in school board races.
McNair finished with 55.6 percent of the vote as she defeated former county Commissioner Jay Coward 1,573-1,258 in District 3.
None of the totals will be official until the Jackson County Board of Elections conducts a canvass next Tuesday, July 27.
Turnout among Jackson County’s 23,960 registered voters was around 12.6 percent.
In a non-partisan race for District Court judge, Monica Leslie carried Jackson County with 1,520 votes to 880 for Sybil Mann and 420 for Rusty McLean. Unofficial district totals had Leslie on top with 6,558 votes to 5,862 for Mann and 2,424 for McLean. Leslie, who was recently appointed to the seat, and Mann, a Waynesville attorney, advance to November’s general election.
In a statewide non-partisan judicial race, Jackson County native Alan Thornburg qualified for November’s general election for a seat on the N.C. Court of Appeals. Thornburg, who was appointed to the position, will square off against’s Tuesday’s top vote-getter, Barbara Jackson. In his home county, Thornburg was an easy winner with 1,930 votes to 509 for Jackson. Marvin Schiller had 158 votes, and Marcus Williams polled 138.
Patsy Keever won the Democratic nomination to take on incumbent Republican Charles Taylor for the 11th Congressional District seat. She won Jackson County 1,649-335 over Michael Morgan.
Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot, held a narrow lead over former N.C. Senate Minority Leader Patrick Ballantine in the GOP gubernatorial primary. They appear headed for a runoff on Aug. 17. The winner will meet incumbent Mike Easley, who won the Democratic primary.
Locally, former Congressman Bill Cobey led the Republican field with 314 votes to Vinroot’s 208 and Ballantine’s 141. Dan Barrett was fourth with 43 votes followed by Fern Shubert with 32 and George Little with 23.
Easley won Jackson County with 1,700 votes to Rickey Kipfer’s 353.
Congressman Richard Burr is the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate He won here with 528 votes to 108 for John Hendrix and 50 for Albert Wiley. Burr will meet Democrat Erskine Bowles in November.
Jim Snyder is the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. He edged Timothy Cook in Jackson County 263-222 while Thomas Stith had 141 votes.
Snyder will meet incumbent Democrat Beverly Perdue in November. Perdue’s primary opponent, Curtis Hert, was ruled ineligible because he is an active member of the military. While no statewide results were tabulated, Perdue had 1,379 votes locally to Hert’s 536.
Britt Cobb, who was appointed commissioner of agriculture, will have a chance to keep his job as he downed Tom Gilmore in the Democratic primary. Gilmore carried Jackson County 1,038-767. Steve Troxler is the Republican candidate.
Secretary of State Elaine Marshall held off a Democratic primary challenge by defeating Doris Sanders. Marshall won the local vote 1,426-387 and will face Republican Jay Rao in November.
Democrats may have a runoff for superintendent of public instruction. Marshall Stewart had a narrow lead over June Atkinson but was short of the 40 percent threshold needed to keep Atkinson from being eligible to call for a runoff. Atkinson won Jackson County with 684 votes to 562 for Stewart and 522 for J.B. Buxton.
The winner will meet Bill Fletcher, who topped Jeanne Smoot for the GOP nomination, in November. Fletcher carried Jackson County 368-262.
Joe Knott is the Republican nominee for attorney general and will meet Democratic incumbent Roy Cooper in November. In Jackson County, Knott was second to Thom Goolsby 267-204 while Wendell Sawyer had 173 votes.
Commissioner of Labor Cherie Berry won the Republican nomination for a second term by defeating Lloyd Funderburk. Berry won locally 366-251 and will meet Democrat Wayne Goodwin in November.
Leslie Merritt won the Republican nomination to face Democratic incumbent Ralph Campbell for auditor. Merritt carried Jackson County 397-224 over Jasper Albright.
Robert Brawley is the Republican nominee for insurance commissioner and will meet Democratic incumbent Jim Long in November. Brawley topped Cindy Huntsberry 354-256 in Jackson County.
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