Final June 7 results show minimal change from election day
Published 12:05 am Wednesday, June 15, 2016
By Josh Bergeron
josh.bergeron@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — More votes came in, but not much changed when counties in North Carolina finalized election results on Tuesday.
Rowan County’s minuscule turnout rate inched above 9 percent, Davie County resident Ted Budd increased his margin of victory in the Republican Party primary for the 13th Congressional District and incumbent Rep. Richard Hudson, R-8, picked up a few dozen more votes. However, victors in Rowan County’s congressional races stayed the same. In the closest race — the Democratic primary for the 13th District — Bruce Davis maintained his 112-vote lead over second-place finisher Bob Isner.
The results likely finalize November’s field for congressional races. In the 8th Congressional District, which contains a majority of Rowan County’s voters, Hudson will face Carrboro resident Thomas Mills. Budd and Davis will likely face off for the 13th Congressional District.
Isner previously said he wouldn’t request a recount unless final election results showed a significant difference from unofficial election night results. On Tuesday, local boards of elections added provisional and absentee ballots to vote totals, but the margin between Davis and Isner remained the same.
Salisbury resident Jason Walser remained the top 13th District candidate among Rowan County voters. He received 985 votes, and State Rep. Harry Warren scored 873 votes in Rowan. By a 3,011-to-572-vote margin, Hudson also maintained his landslide victory in Rowan County over challenger Tim D’Annunzio.
Now that results are final, the June 7 primary election turnout ranks as the highest for a June election in Rowan County since 1990, which was a second primary for the state’s U.S. Senate race. That election was a second primary for the Democratic candidates. Harvey Gantt beat Mike Easley in June 1990. Republican Jesse Helms won the November election.
In the 1990 second primary, 18 percent of eligible Rowan County voters turned out to vote. On June 7, a total of 9.05 percent of eligible Rowan County voters turned out.
A total of 6,395 Rowan County voters cast ballots in a Republican primary in the June 7 election, 1,166 cast ballots in a Democratic primary, and 724 cast a nonpartisan ballot.
Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.