Archive for the ‘Orange County’ Category
Monday, May 12th, 2008 |
by Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
Going into Tuesday, higher registration numbers were already indicating a heavy turnout for Election Day, when Orange County voters would cast their ballots for everything from a tax referendum to the next president. The early vote total swelled as well, nearly reaching 18,000 votes by the close of business on Saturday, meaning that 18 percent of those registered voted prior to Election Day, a total close to the average total turnout in a typical primary year. By the time Tuesday’s votes were added in, more than 46,190 had voted in the county, putting turnout at an estimated 48 percent.
As evidenced by the results, driving the turnout was a surge of interest in the Democratic presidential race. In that contest, Barack Obama won 62 of North Carolina’s 128 delegates with 56 percent of the vote. In Orange County, where Obama had high visibility and an office full of volunteers on West Franklin Street, the Illinois senator won 70 percent of the vote to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 29 percent. Clinton did not appear in Orange County, but her husband, former president Bill Clinton, made a stop in Hillsborough.
(more…)
Posted in Orange County, elections | No Comments »
Monday, May 12th, 2008 |
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.
Moore faired slightly better in Orange County, finishing with 45 percent to Perdue’s 52 percent.
In the race for the Republican nominee for governor, Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory turned back four challengers and will face Perdue in the November general election. McCrory won 46 percent of the votes; state Sen. Fred Smith won 37 percent; attorney Bill Graham, nine percent; former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, seven percent; and Elbie Powers, a farm owner, one percent.
(more…)
Posted in Orange County, elections | 1 Comment »
Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 |
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.
(more…)
Posted in Orange County, elections | No Comments »
Friday, April 4th, 2008 |
John Edwards says ‘No’ to the VP question and declines to endorse Clinton or Obama in a Q&A after a speech.
Via Reuters:
After his keynote speech at CTIA, the annual U.S. wireless industry showcase, Edwards was asked in a question-and-answer session if he would accept the nomination for vice president.
“No,” said Edwards, who also declined to say whether he would endorse Clinton or Obama.
Posted in National, Orange County | No Comments »
Monday, March 3rd, 2008 |
A quick Web update:
The last day of filing season for the May 6 primaries and school board election saw a number of races turn from non-competitive to contested.
Among the filings:
• Neloa Jones and Mary Wolff joined Bernadette Pelissier in the Democratic primary for the lone at-large county commissioner seat.
• Wolff’s husband, Kevin, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Chapel Hill last year, filed for the Republican primary for the at-large commissioner seat. He is uncontested in that race.
• The Orange County Schools Board of Education election now has six candidates vying for three seats. They are Stephen H. Halkiotis, Tony McKnight, Jeff Michalski, Eddie M. Eubanks and Al Hartkopf and Stan Morris.
More information is at the Orange County Board of Elections site.
Posted in Orange County, elections | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 |
Steven Halkiotis, a retired assistant superintendent with Orange County Schools who served five terms on the Orange County Board of Commissioners, has filed to run for Orange County Schools Board of Education.
Halkiotis, who opted not to run for re-election as commissioner in 2006, recently retired from Orange County Schools, where he was the district’s director of auxiliary services.
Posted in Orange County, elections | No Comments »
Monday, February 11th, 2008 |
By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board Chair Pam Hemminger and Orange County Planning Board member Bernadette Pelissier say they plan to file soon for the May Democratic primary for Orange County commissioner. They’ll join incumbent commissioner Valerie Foushee who has indicated previously she’ll seek another term.
Filing season starts Monday at noon and Hemminger, who sought a seat on the board in 2004, said she plans to get started early. She said she wants to run because of her concern for how the county will handle growth.
Hemminger, who was appointed to the school board in 2005 and won election in 2006, said she thinks her experience with schools and as a longtime parks and recreation supporter will be an asset to the board in dealing with growth issues. “I feel versed on it and I want to help,” she said.
(more…)
Posted in Orange County, elections | No Comments »
Thursday, October 4th, 2007 |
The Orange County Board of Elections will demonstrate the testing of voting machines on October 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The board tests voting machines to ensure that the machines are accurately tabulating the voter’s choices. The demonstration is open to the public and will be held at the Board of Elections office at 110 E. King St. in Hillsborough.
For more information, contact the elections office at 245-2350.
Posted in Orange County, elections | Comments Off
Thursday, September 27th, 2007 |
By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
The Board of County Commissioners presented land transfer and sales tax options to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Orange County boards of education at a joint work session on Tuesday.
The board earlier this month voted to put a tax referendum on the ballot next May. Commissioners decided not to put a referendum on the ballot in November, expressing concern that there was insufficient time to educate the public.
In this year’s state budget, the Legislature gave counties the option of a 0.4 percent land transfer tax or a quarter-cent sales tax increase to help compensate for money taken away from counties in a deal to turn responsibility for paying for Medicaid over to the state.
As a result of the budget deal, counties lost state-supplied school construction money this year and will lose some sales tax revenue in coming years. Orange County will lose about $500,000 this year through the changes in funding.
(more…)
Posted in Orange County | Comments Off
