Fred Steen defeated Robert Campbell in the NC State House District 076. photo by Wayne Hinshaw, Salisbury Post

By Steve Huffman

Salisbury Post

Fred Steen was re-elected to the N.C. House of Representatives Tuesday, easily out-distancing Robert Campbell in the Republican primary for the District 76 seat.

There are no Democratic candidates to challenge Steen in the fall.

Steen got 3,504 votes — 70 percent of the total — to Campbell's 1,470.

"Seventy percent is strong," Steen said. "I'm not disappointed at all."

Steen, 47, has served as the House District 76 representative since 2004 when he was named to complete the unfinished term of Eugene McCombs, who died in office. Steen has since been elected to two terms of his own, with this fall's election to mark his third.

Steen had a small following — his wife, Tina, and mother, Bettye, included — with him at the Cohen Administration Building, where vote totals were displayed Tuesday night.

Steen accepted plenty of handshakes from those offering him congratulations.

"I've been working hard in Raleigh and haven't heard anything negative about what I'm doing," Steen said. "I felt pretty good going in. We're happy to go back to work and not have to worry about re-election for another two years."

Steen's N.C. House district covers roughly the eastern and southern half of Rowan County. Both Steen and Campbell advertised themselves as fiscal conservatives.

Steen is a member of the legislature's Municipal Annexation Committee and said he plans to go to the full House to recommend a moratorium on forced annexations.

His decision, Steen said, came largely because of the entourage from Salisbury who traveled to Raleigh to protest a proposed forced annexation of neighborhoods west of town. Salisbury has since dropped its proposal to annex subdivisions along N.C. 150.

Among the House committees on which Steen serves: Agriculture, Appropriations, vice chairman of Central Government, Commerce, Ethics, Local Government II, Rules, Transportation and vice chairman of Wildlife Resources. He also serves as a member of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services.

Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@salisburypost.com.

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