Delbridge is new district attorney
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 5, 2014 1:46 PM
News-Argus file photo
Newly elected District Attorney Matt Delbridge talks about the campaign during an interview with the News-Argus in October.
Republican Matt Delbridge defeated Democrat Terry Light by a narrow margin Tuesday to become the district attorney for Wayne, Lenoir and Greene counties.
Light carried both Lenoir and Greene but it was not enough to offset the margin of victory in Wayne County, where Delbridge received 18,285 votes to Light's 14,096.
The final tally was 28,529 for Delbridge and 27,348 for Light.
The race was one of the last local races to be called Tuesday night due to difficulties with the Lenoir County Board of Elections website.
Perhaps the only person not put off by the delay was Delbridge, who cleared his schedule Tuesday to visit different polling places throughout the day.
Then, instead of making the traditional Election Night rounds, Delbridge went to his parent's home. His two sisters, who had traveled home from Virginia and New York to pitch in on election day, were there as well.
"I wanted to have some time with them and family, you know, it is the best place to be," he said this morning.
Delbridge said he was not sure what time it was when he realized that he had won, but he said he believes it was after the results came in from Lenoir County, between 10 and 11 p.m.
"The election process itself, I am not really surprised by it," he said. "I really didn't have an idea of how it would go. I didn't have any expectation one way or another."
He said it was just a matter of him waiting for it to all unfold and being set for whichever way it went.
"I really had no surprise because I really had no expectation of what would happen," he said.
For Delbridge, the day after the election was just going to be another day in the office, as he had court to prepare for.
With the election now won and his future as district attorney secured, Delbridge can set his sights on running the office he has dedicated the last 30 years to serving.
Delbridge will take over for retiring District Attorney Branny Vickory.
"What I want to guarantee is that we (will) make a smooth transition and maintain the high level (of service) that we have always provided," he said. "I certainly want to continue to do what I think I am the best at, which is to try cases in the courtroom.
"I want to prepare myself to do that as well as to handle all of the other issues and that is going to be a challenge."
Delbridge joked that he also needed to find out when he would be sworn in.
"That would be a good thing to know," he said. "But it's not today, thank goodness."