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NATION – Is there a better known name on the planet? Our returning President’s notoriety and even fame has been fed to a great extent by mainstream media’s obsession over the past eight years. Rural voters indeed ‘trumped’ urban voters this time around. Some might say the elites got run over by a garbage truck! No one is better off today than they were four years ago. Democrats on the national level deserved this comeuppance.
STATE – Heard the term ‘down ballot’ ?? We are a bunch of ticket splitters here in North Carolina. We now have a mish-mash of elected officials on the top rungs. BOTH PARTIES! That may or may not be good. Like his gubernatorial predecessor Roy Cooper in 2016, new governor Josh Stein used his own stint as Attorney General as a stepping stone to the state’s highest office. Consider Cooper and Stein to be clones of each other – almost ‘Siamese Twins’ a skeptic might say. Had Harris won, insiders think Cooper would have had a good chance for a federal Cabinet position. Don’t feel sorry for him. State retirement pay for a former governor is not too shabby. For the record, Stein and Cooper are thriving Democrats who ride their own blue waves.
LOCAL – Closest to home. Around this neck of the woods, that includes Pamlico County Commissioner elections where Republicans went 3 for 3. In Township 1, Olympia general contractor Thomas Mills trounced retired county employee Garry Cooper of Reelsboro. In Township 5, Kenny Heath soundly defeated unaffiliated candidate Christopher Jones. Heath is expected to give up his seat as Arapahoe mayor to return as a County Commissioner – a seat he originially won way back in 2008. And, of course, Candy Bohmert had no opposition. She currently serves as Commission Chairman.
Moving up a bit to General Assembly races, local Republican incumbents reigned supreme. Atop the totem pole, is State Senator Norman Sanderson, first elected to the state legislature in 2010. District 2 is a difficult and widespread piece of terrain that includes Pamlico, Carteret, Hyde, and five other counties reaching the NC/VA border. Sanderson faces a new Democrat every election cycle – and always wins!
Technically, Bob Brinson of New Bern is an incumbent GOP state senator, but just barely. This summer he was appointed to the seat of a former state senator from Lenoir County – add in Beaufort and Craven counties – the three make up State Senate District 3. Brinson comes away with a decisive and impressive win. Seems like just yesterday that he won his first election to the New Bern Board of Aldermen!
Other slam dunk re-elections to the State House went to: Steve Tyson (District 3); Celeste Cairns (District 13); and, Keith Kidwell (District 79). Congratulations to that trio of conservative Republicans. All walked away with convincing victories.
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