ALBEMARLE — The Republican primary election held on March 5 will see new nominees for state rep., county commissioner and school board member.
With a turnout rate of 28.9%, nearly 13,000 ballots were cast in the county, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
In a battle between two Republicans competing for retiring Rep. Wayne Sasser’s seat to represent N.C. General Assembly House District 67 (Stanly and Montgomery counties), Oakboro’s Cody Huneycutt had 64.7% (9,089) of the votes, besting Albemarle resident Brandon King’s 35.3% (4,953).
Huneycutt received 63.7% (6,906) of Stanly’s votes and 68.2% (2,183) of Montgomery’s votes, while King notched 36.3% (3,935) in Stanly and 31.8% (1,018) in Montgomery.
“It is an honor to be chosen as the Republican nominee for N.C. House District 67 in the General Election this upcoming November,” Huneycutt said in a campaign statement. “I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who came out to cast their ballots for candidates. To those who supported me with your vote, thank you. To those who came out and didn’t support me with your vote, I look forward to earning your support in November.”
Huneycutt will now face Democrat Daniel Quick of Badin for Sasser’s seat in the general election this November.
For Stanly voters, there were two races for the Board of Commissioners as well as one for the Board of Education. Commissioner Scott Efird won his primary, while his colleague Peter Asciutto lost his primary to challenger Billy Mills.
In the At-Large race, Efird took home 61.2% (6,378) of the votes, overtaking Levi Greene’s 38.8% (2,046).
Efird will now challenge Libertarian candidate and former Stanly County Board of Education member Melvin Poole in November.
For the District 5 race, Billy Mills had 73.8% (7,746) while Asciutto finished with 26.2% (2,752) of the votes.
In the lone school board race — representing the At-Large seat — Meghan Almond’s 54.3% (5,777) was enough to get past incumbent Rufus Lefler’s 45.7% (4,863).
“Stanly County, I look forward to working for you. Your voice will be heard,” Almond said in a post-election statement. “Tonight is just the beginning and I plan to put all that I shared in my videos into action. Here’s to the next two years.”
In the primary race for Stanly County Register of Deeds, incumbent Jennie Helms received 66.7% (6,933) of the votes in comparison to George Burris’ 22% (2,291) and Misty Enoch’s 11.3% (1,170).
Mills, Almond and Helms will each run unopposed as the GOP candidates in the 2024 general election scheduled for Nov. 5.