Winders beats Scott by 71 votes in GOP race
By Andrew Bell
Published in News on May 3, 2006 1:53 PM
Once the final votes were tallied in the Republican battle for the Wayne County clerk of court nomination, candidate Randy Winders was only too glad to call it a night.
He would think about his battle against Democratic nomination winner Pam Minshew another day.
"I'm going to go home, go to bed and get some sleep," Winders said.
Winders and fellow Republican Amy Carter Scott watched the lead shift several times during Tuesday night's contest, with a percentage of votes earned tied at 50 percent each as the evening wore down.
After the last vote had been tallied, however, Winders had the nomination -- by 71 votes.
"It's nerve-wracking. You'd like to see a clear majority in this kind of race, but it's been back and forth all night," Winders said.
Winders won with 769 votes, as compared to Mrs. Scott's 698. Many of the 30 voting precincts had Mrs. Scott and Winders deadlocked, but Winders found his largest support in Fremont, Pikeville, Belfast, Grantham and some parts of Goldsboro.
Winders said he hoped more voters would have gone to the polls, but added he is grateful for the voters who came out to support him. A little more than 10 percent of the county's registered voters participated in Tuesday's election.
"I'm a little disappointed by the turnout of voters, but I guess it's time to go on to the next level," he said.
In November, Winders will be on the ballot with Mrs. Minshew, who defeated Jo Ann Summerlin for the Democratic nomination.
Winders said the battle for the nomination wasn't easy, but added that the race was run honorably by all.
"This race had a lot of good candidates that are loved throughout the community. I thought it was a good race. There weren't any dirty remarks from the candidates, and everyone went out to win it," he said.
Now that he has won the Republican nomination, Winders said he will continue to do what he was doing before the primary.
"I'll go right back out and meet and greet the people of Wayne County," Winders said.
Although the numbers were close all night, Wayne County Board of Elections Director said there would be no runoff. The candidate with the most votes is given the nomination for that political party.
The results will not be official until the Board of Elections office holds its canvass next Tuesday at 11 a.m.