Orange Co. Results

All results as of 12:06 a.m., Wednesday, May 7, 2008.

All results preliminary and unofficial. The Board of Elections is scheduled to certify results on May 19.

Democratic Primaries

Presidential Preference
Barack Obama 69.60% 27,824
Hillary Clinton 28.87% 11,540
Mike Gravel 0.62% 249
No preference 0.91% 363
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by Taylor Sisk
Staff Writer

Incumbent Lieutenant Governor and Chapel Hill resident Beverly Perdue scored a decisive victory on Tuesday, earning the Democratic nomination for governor over challengers Richard Moore and Dennis Nielsen. On an Election Day in which just over 36 percent of registered voters turned out statewide, Perdue gathered 56 percent of votes cast; Moore, the state treasurer, finished with 40 percent; Nielsen, a retired military officer, received 4 percent.
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by Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Determined to keep their perfect score in defeating counties’ efforts to adopt a real estate transfer tax, the North Carolina real estate and construction interests, led by the North Carolina Association of Realtors and the North Carolina Homebuilders, have pumped more than $205,000 in cash and in-kind contributions into defeating the initiative in Orange County.

The figures, filed on Monday — the deadline for campaign finance reports for the first quarter and the final weeks leading up to the election — show that the state organizations that have helped organize and fund county-based groups to fight the tax represent the bulk of funding for Citizens for a Better Orange County, which was set up in February to fight the tax.
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by Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

An historic spring primary winds up this week with both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and their supporters criss-crossing the state in search of votes and North Carolinians brave enough to have their televisions on, subjected to a near-endless barrage of state and national campaign ads.

Local and some statewide candidates have been working Orange County rallies and early-voting sites as well.

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by Taylor Sisk
Staff Writer

Two challengers and the incumbent are running for the North Carolina Court of Appeals seat presently held by Jim Wynn. Wynn, a Cary resident, was first elected to the Court of Appeals in 1990. He served as an associate justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1998. Jewel Ann Farlow is a Gibsonville private-practice attorney. Dean R. Poirier lives in Mount Olive, is an appeals referee and has worked as an adjunct instructor of law at Mount Olive College, North Carolina Wesleyan College, Kaplan University and Liberty University.

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by Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Six candidates are vying for three seats on the Orange County Schools Board of Education. Incumbent Al Hartkopf is running for re-election, challenged by newcomers Eddie Eubanks, Steve Halkiotis, Tony McKnight, Jeff Michalski and Stan Morris.

School board member Dennis Whitling resigned in February, following his arrest on charges of embezzlement. School board member Liz Brown is not running for re-election.

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by Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Four Democratic candidates are running for one District Two seat on the Board of County Commissioners. No Republicans are running for county commissioner in the district.

A 2006 referendum approved by voters increased the board from five to seven members and split the county into two voting districts. With the exception of a portion near I-40 and Whitfield Road, the two new county districts mirror the two school systems’ boundaries, with District Two similar to the Orange County Schools District and District One similar to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools District.
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by Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Six months ago, the race for North Carolina Senate District 23, which is comprised of Orange and Person counties, was shaping up as a much different kind of contest than the one on the ballot today.

A field of three — Carrboro Alderman John Herrera and two Orange County commissioners, Moses Carey and Mike Nelson — were preparing for at least a three-way contest to fill the seat vacated by a retiring six-term incumbent, Ellie Kinnaird.

But when Kinnaird, who had long hoped a woman would be in the field vying to replace her, decided not to retire and to go for another term, the field of candidates changed rapidly.

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The Orange County Board of Elections will hold a demonstration of the voting process and the procedures in place at 1 p.m. on April 26.

The demonstration will be held at the Orange Enterprise Building on Valley Forge Road in Hillsborough. For more information, contact the Orange County Board of Elections at 245-2350.

Early voting started Thursday, April 17 for the May 6 election and will continue until Saturday, May 3. Registered voters  can vote at the sites. Unregistered but eligible voters can ask for same day registaration at early-voting sites with identification showing their name and current address. Doing this means that you can only vote at the early-voting site. Registered voters can change registration information, but not party affiliation.

Vote early in Carrboro at the town hall and in Chapel Hill at the Morehead Planetarium, the Robert and Pearl Seymour Senior Center and the Board of Elections office in Hillsborough.

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A website has been created to provide information on the proposed Orange County land transfer tax.

The website, www.yourchoice-oc.com, was developed by Ballen Media for Orange County. It provides historical information, legislation and financial projections, as well as links to perspectives from both sides of the issue.
In addition, the site provides contact information for those with additional questions.

The League of Women Voters will hold a public information session on the land transfer tax referendum on the May ballot on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the F. Gordon Battle Courtroom in Hillsborough.

The session will include a presentation about what a land transfer tax is and how it would work. Speakers on both sides of the issue will provide an overview from their perspective and audience members will be able to ask questions.

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The five Democratic candidates for the Chatham County Board of Commissioners will speak at a meeting on April 27 at 3 p.m. in the multi-purpose room at Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro.

Patrick Barnes and Sally Kost are the Democratic candidates for the District 1 seat. Mike Cross, Armentha Davis and Jeffrey Starkweather are the Democratic candidates for the District 2 seat. Barnes and Cross are incumbents.
The meeting, hosted by the Chatham County Democratic Women, is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Barb Alotis at bjalotis@nc.rr.com or visit the CCDW website at www.ccdwhome.org.

Sen. Barack Obama is bringing his campaign to Carrboro in a big, loud way. The bands Arcade Fire and Superchunk will play for the benefit of his campaign – and your ears -  on the Carrboro Town Commons, May 2 at 1 p.m.
Tickets are free but they have to be picked up, starting today (Thursday) at locations that include: Balloons and Tunes on W. Main Street in Carrboro or at the Morehead Planetarium on E. Franklin Street. Tickets are given on a first-come, first-serve basis, and only one is allowed per person. Parking is very limited. More information at www.nc.barackobama.com.

Photo by Kirk Ross.

State Sen. Ellie Kinnaird and longtime County Commissioner Moses Carey squared off last Wednesday in a debate that many observers say showed more agreement and few, if any, fireworks. But there are differences between the two. Next week, The Citizen looks at the race for Senate District 23 and how the two campaigns are focused in the final stretch.