Another Super Tuesday has come and gone, with heavy campaigning, advertising and debating all leading to a night of candidates and supporters closely watching as results are reported. In Stanly, with 100% of the precincts reporting, 12,433 voters in the county submitted ballots — about 30% of those registered.
Starting at the top of the ticket, Joe Biden won easily among Democratic voters in Stanly, with 48% of the vote. Bernie Sanders came in second with 19%, and no one else reached the 15% threshold for receiving delegates. Biden also won statewide over Sanders 43% to 24%.
Even though President Donald Trump did not have a serious primary contender, he received over 8,000 of the 12,433 votes in Stanly County, showing an overwhelming turnout advantage for Republicans in the county.
Sen. Thom Tillis easily won against his Republican primary challengers, as did Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who is running for governor, and current Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat. Cal Cunningham defeated Erica Smith in Stanly in the Democrat primary for who will face Tillis in the U.S. Senate race in November. Cunningham also won against Smith statewide, 57% to 35%.
The lieutenant governor’s race, however, had many serious contenders in both parties. Among the Democrats, Stanly County preferred Yvonne Lewis Holley over Allen Thomas and others. Terry Van Duyn, a state senator from the Asheville area, came in second to Holley statewide though and is considering a runoff since neither of them surpassed 30% of the vote.
On the Republican side, Mark Robinson, an African-American gun rights advocate, won handily in the lieutenant governor primary — in Stanly and statewide — over a long list of contenders. many of whom had significant political experience.
In the races for who represents Stanly County in the North Carolina General Assembly, Sen. Carl Ford and Rep. Wayne Sasser, both incumbent Republicans, did not see primary challengers, and Sasser won’t have a general election opponent either. Democrats did compete to see who could challenge Ford in November though, with Tarsha Ellis winning the primary against Geoffrey Hoy.
District 66, represented by Democrat Scott Brewer, also did not have a Democratic primary challenger, but Ben Moss defeated Joey Davis in the Republican primary and will challenge Brewer in the general election. In an important judicial race, Pat Nadolski won the Republican primary against Scott Dunn for District 20a Seat 2.
Current Stanly County Commissioner Ashley Morgan lost his bid for re-election, being defeated in a close three-way GOP primary race with Peter Asciutto coming out on top. Scott Efird won the Republican primary for an at-large seat on the commission, and Rufus Lefler and Carla Poplin won Republican primaries for school board.
All images taken from NC Board of Elections website.
CORRECTION: An earlier version said that Joey Davis defeated Ben Moss in the GOP primary for NC House seat 66. While Davis won in Stanly County, Moss won the overall district and will face Brewer in the general election in November.