Good morning, readers.
In one of the most closely watched races locally, political newcomer Sophia Chitlik defeated six-term incumbent Mike Woodard with 57.6 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary for North Carolina Senate District 22. With no Republican challenger in the upcoming general election, Chitlik is guaranteed a seat in the General Assembly.
Curious about Durham’s state senator-elect? Read our exclusive January Q&A with Chitlik here.
Durham’s new board of county commissioners will include incumbents Wendy Jacobs and Nida Allam, newcomer and former Durham Association of Educators president Michelle Burton, former DPS school board member Mike Lee, and Durham planning commissioner Stephen Valentine. And at-large DPS board of education candidate Joy Harrell won her race, the only competitive school board race on the ballot, easily.
Durham DA Satana Deberry had an impressive showing in the Democratic primary for North Carolina attorney general but ultimately came up short against U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson, who entered the race with an upper hand in funding and name recognition. In November, Jackson will face off against U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, who ran uncontested in the Republican AG primary.
See all the Durham County election results here.
In Orange County, Phyllis Portie-Ascott was elected to her first term on the Orange County board of commissioners after she was appointed to the seat last year. And the progressive slate dominated Orange County Schools board of education races, with incumbents Carrie Doyle and Jennifer Moore holding onto their seats and newcomer Wendy Padilla picking up the third. See all the Orange County election results here.
In Wake County, Tara Waters won the Democratic primary for the board of county commissioners District 5 seat against DaQuanta Copeland. In the District Court 10 judges races, incumbent judge Cindy Kenney held onto her seat while incumbent judges Eric Craig Chasse and Anna Worley look to have lost theirs to Crystal Grimes and Renee Jordan respectively. Wake County clerk of court Blair Williams won a fourth seat over criminal defense attorney Kevin Boxberger, but Boxberger is now free to run for yet another open seat in the district court in November.
Wake County Public Schools board of education member Monika Johnson- Hostler won a seat in NC House District 33, while longtime state senator Dan Blue easily held onto his seat in Senate District 14. See all the Wake County results here.
Just over 300,000 Triangle residents voted in the primary. Orange County led turnout with 30.2 percent and Durham and Wake Counties came in at 27 percent and 24.8 percent of registered voters, respectively.
Almost 13 percent of North Carolina voters voted “no preference” instead of Joe Biden on their ballots in the Democratic presidential primary yesterday, mirroring last week’s primary in Michigan in which 13 percent of voters cast uncommitted ballots following a campaign to protest U.S. aid to Israel in its assault on Gaza.
Donald Trump won North Carolina’s Republican primary with 74 percent of the vote. As expected, NC attorney general Josh Stein won the Democratic nomination for the gubernatorial race and lieutenant governor Mark Robinson won the Republican nomination.
Reporters from the INDY and the 9th Street Journal hopped around election watch parties last night and live-blogged the results as they came in. We’ll have recaps of the races in Durham, Wake, and Orange County on our website later this morning.
Read this letter from our editor, Jane Porter, who has some thoughts about the INDY’s election coverage for the 2024 primary cycle. And look for our new paper out on stands today.
We’ll be back with your curated news from around the Triangle tomorrow. Have a good Wednesday.
—Lena
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Cloudy with a high of 63 degrees and a chance of rain.
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