Even so, Carruth and Suggs were surprised at their victory during Tuesday’s Republican primary runoff, The two edged out incumbents Sue Casper and Carolyn B. Carpenter, who beat Carruth and Suggs in the May 2 primary.

Tuesday’s vote was held because none of the four won 40 percent of the vote in the May 2 primary.

In unofficial results Tuesday, Carruth received 1,185 votes, Suggs 1,100, Casper 929 and Carpenter 807. Elections supervisor Linda Grist said the election, which cost Cabarrus County about $20,000 to conduct, drew just 5 percent of registered Republican and unaffiliated voters. The primary drew 12 percent.

With 10 candidates on the Republican ballot in the primary, votes were more scattered than in the runoff.

Suggs, who visited polls yesterday before a game of golf, said the results surprised him.

“I had my doubts whether I could beat them,” he said.

Carruth also was shocked. “I started to go to the polls,” he said, “but with only one or two people coming in every 15 minutes, I thought most people would already have made up their mind. ... I was pleasantly surprised. I told Sue and Carolyn I can’t thank them enough, you know, for the hard sacrifices they made.”

Carruth said voters may have changed their minds about Casper and Carpenter because of their stance on two back-to-back actions last month by the Cabarrus County commissioners. The board cut the county property tax rate three cents per $100 valuation to 56 cents while agreeing to borrow $40 million through bonds to finance three new county schools.

Casper and Carpenter voted for both measures. But they questioned how the county can afford paying the debt and interest of $4.4 million a year over 20 years — and cut taxes at the same time. They said voters should have a chance to approve such a large borrowing plan.

Casper and Carpenter also were the subject of direct mail flyers and television advertising by the Cabarrus Taxpayers Association, a political action committee. The group, which endorsed Suggs, criticized Casper and Carpenter for their votes on taxes.

Casper said those flyers distorted her record. “There was an awful lot of deception,” she said. “And there were massive monies poured into campaigns that the average candidate cannot afford.”

Carpenter, who has lost in a runoff before, said she has a problem with how North Carolina runs elections.

“The problem is that you do not get the response you normally get in a usual primary,” she said. “Many people were still on vacation. ... I’m just a little disappointed because the larger portion of people in the county had chosen me and Sue in the larger election. I really do not feel that it’s (our) record. It’s just the individuals who get their vote out.”