Write-in candidates appear to upend board in Pikeville
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 6, 2013 1:46 PM
Pikeville voters, by an almost two-to-one margin, cast more write-in ballots in Tuesday's municipal election than they did for the official candidates for mayor and two open seats on the town board.
Pikeville Mayor Johnny Weaver this morning confirmed there had been a concerted write-in campaign.
Weaver, who did not seek re-election, said that that according to his information, Glenn Hartman, former chief of the Pikeville-Pleasant Grove Fire Department, had defeated Commissioner Todd Anderson for the mayoral seat.
Al Greene, a former Pikeville police chief, and Todd Smith defeated Garrett Johnston and Eric Snoddy for the two open board seats, Weaver said.
Officials with the Wayne County Board of Elections said they could not yet confirm those outcomes.
Officials totals were not available for Hartman, Greene and Smith. Unofficially, Anderson had 61 votes. There were 85 write-in ballots cast in the mayoral race. In the commissioners' race, Snoddy had 43 votes and Johnston had 40. There were 186 write-in votes for the two open seats.
No one filed for the two open board seats and mayoral offices in Eureka and Seven Springs that will be decided by write-in votes as well.
Wayne County Board of Elections Director Rosemary Blizzard said this morning that the final tallies in Pikeville, Eureka and Seven Springs would not be available until noon.
The results are delayed because of the time it takes to enter the write-in information into the state Board of Elections system, she said.
All vote totals are unofficial until the canvass next Tuesday.
Only 2,008 of the 33,688 eligible voters, about 5.96 percent, cast ballots.
At Walnut Creek, Steven D. "Pete" Benton had 132 votes and Mike Day 98 to win the two open village council seats. They were unopposed. There were 18 write-ins.
Incumbent Danny Jackson, who was unopposed in his bid to be elected to complete an unexpired term, had 105 votes. There were 18 write-in votes.
Results in the five sanitary district elections were:
* Belfast-Patetown (top five vote-getters elected): Ben Casey (incumbent) of Goldsboro, 168; Ray Sullivan (incumbent) of Goldsboro, 154; Dawn Anderson of Pikeville, 104; Landis H. Davis (incumbent) of Stantonsburg, 104; Fred J. Newcomb (incumbent) of Goldsboro, 97; Janice Grant of Goldsboro, 81; and Joe A. Brown (incumbent) of Fremont, 76; 13 write-ins
* Eastern Wayne (top five vote-getters elected): Richard "Ricky" Carraway of LaGrange, 230; Erwin Watts of Goldsboro, 143; Daryl Anderson (incumbent) of LaGrange, 142; Carl Mozingo (incumbent) of LaGrange, 129; James Allen Sutton Jr. (incumbent) of LaGrange, 116; Glenwood Spence of LaGrange, 112; Pattie Price Daly of Goldsboro, 101; Linda Harper of Goldsboro, 96; Jonathan Carl Mozingo of Goldsboro, 36; 73 write-ins
* Fork Township (top three vote-getters elected): Danny F. Hope of Goldsboro, 187; Henry Braswell (incumbent) of Goldsboro, 181; Tim Gardner of Goldsboro, 143; Marsha Green of Goldsboro, 115; Joseph Lee Hackett of Goldsboro, 40; Justin Revels of Goldsboro, 26; 4 write-ins
* Southeastern Wayne (top five vote-getters elected): Bobby Outlaw (incumbent) of Dudley, 76; Sam Casey (incumbent) of Dudley, 70; James Taylor (incumbent) of Dudley, 62; Charlie M.B. Holloway (incumbent) of Mount Olive, 61; Albert Williams Jr. of Dudley, 49; and Jim Barnwell of Dudley, 44; 26 write-ins
* Southern Wayne (top two vote-getters elected): Gary Scott (incumbent) of Goldsboro, 183; Sally Rawls Bowles (incumbent) of Dudley, 149; Danny Edwards of Goldsboro, 68; Charles McLendon of Dudley, 52; and Jesse Jernigan of Dudley, 14; 2 write-ins.
A protest has been filed in the Southeastern Wayne Sanitary District election by James Taylor, one of the five apparent winners.
Mrs. Blizzard said it had been learned that one of the candidates, Jim Barnwell, did not live in the district and should not have been on the ballot. A mistake in the elections record had placed Barnwell in the district, she said.
The Board of Elections is scheduled to hold a preliminary hearing Tuesday at 9 a.m. on the complaint.
The board is scheduled to meet again at 11 a.m. on Tuesday to conduct the canvass for the elections.
The board is also scheduled to meet twice this Friday.
The first meeting at 2 p.m. to conduct the state-mandated hand-to-eye count in preparation for the canvass of Tuesday's elections.
The second meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. to count provisional ballots.
All of the meetings will be held at the Board of Elections office at 209 S. William St.