The number of early votes cast leading up to this Tuesday’s primary election has exceeded 1,000 and the Sampson County Board of Elections director said she expects a spike as the one-stop period concludes this week.

According to numbers compiled by the Sampson Board of Elections, through noon Wednesday, there were 1,130 total voters who cast their ballots since the early voting period opened on April 19. Of that number, there were 656 registered Democrats, 472 Republicans and two Libertarians.

Further breaking down the voter makeup, 679 were white and 424 were black. There were also 13 American Indian voters, along with nine “other” and five “undetermined.” There were 666 females and 461 males, as well as three others listed as undetermined.

Early voting for the Tuesday, May 8, primary is ongoing at the Sampson County Board of Elections Office, located at 120 County Complex Road, Suite 110, Clinton. Hours will continue from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Thursday, May 3, and Friday, May 4. Those early voting hours will conclude with a three-hour window from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday, May 5. Any Sampson County citizen who was registered to vote by April 13 may vote early, Board of Elections director Ashley Pate Tew noted.

Tew said the 1,130 ballots cast through early Wednesday afternoon was a solid total for early voting in a mid-term election. She anticipates the early voting to conclude the same way it began, with a flurry of people at the Elections Office.

“It will be the busiest Friday and Saturday, I think,” Tew stated. “I could be wrong, but usually Saturday is our busiest.”

The early voting number is likely due in large part to the amount of local contested races, including those on both sides of the ticket for Sampson County Clerk of Superior Court — four Republicans and three Democrats — and a non-partisan Sampson County Board of Education, which also has seven total candidates vying for four seats.

Democratic primaries for sheriff, the Sampson County Board of Commissioners’ fifth district, as well as both N.C. House seats and the U.S. House post encompassing Sampson are also on tap.

Republicans Barbara Moore, Chris Fann, Chris Driver and current Clerk of Superior Court Dwight S. Williams Jr. are all vying for the Clerk’s post. Williams was appointed to the post following former Clerk of Court Norman Wayne Naylor’s retirement and is filling his unexpired term, which runs out in November. Democrats Jerry Bradshaw, Brent Baggett and Tammy Grady are challenging each other for their party’s nomination.

In the sheriff’s race, Democrats Freddie Butler and Kemely Pickett will face off against each other, with the winner attempting to unseat Sheriff Jimmy Thornton, who is seeking election to his fifth term.

On the Sampson Board of Commissioners, the District 5 seat is up for grabs, with Albert Kirby stepping down from his post earlier this year following his appointment to a judicial post.

Democrat Thaddeus L. Godwin Sr. was sworn in as District 5 appointee in February, filing to seek election to the post two days before his official installation on the board to fill Kirby’s unexpired term. Godwin will face off against fellow Democrat Willie R. Moore in the District 5 primary, the only race being contested in the May 8 primary.

Republican commissioner Clark H. Wooten (District 1) is unopposed and Sue Lee (District 3) will have opposition on the November ballot in Willie Bowden Sr. The two met in the District 3 race four years ago.

The Sampson County Schools Board of Education and Clinton City Schools Board of Education are non-partisan races. The county race is hotly-contested, the city’s is not.

On the county side, the terms of four board members are expiring, including Mary B. Brown, Telfair Simpson, Dwain Sinclair and Kimberly Schmidlin. Only Schmidlin is seeking to retain her post, along with a slew of newcomers, including Daryll Warren, Sonya Powell, Janice Williams, Bradley Jackson, Shea Autry and Robert Burley Jr.

On the city side, Carol Worley and Georgina Zeng are poised to retain their posts, while former CCS Superintendent Dr. Stuart Blount is expected to take the third and final spot, filing at the last minute on the final day of February. They are the only three candidates to fill the three available spots, with Randy Barefoot not seek reelection.

In the N.C. House of Representatives, Democrats Raymond Smith Jr. and Eugene Pearsall will meet in the May primary for the District 21 seat, which includes portions of Sampson, Duplin and Wayne, with Republican challenger Robert Freeman Sr. awaiting the winner.

Martin (Tony) Denning will run on the Democratic ticket for District 22, which consists of most of Sampson and Bladen counties and a small portion of Johnston. Denning will face fellow Democrat Lawrence Aycock, with the winner meeting incumbent Rep. William Brisson, who underwent a midterm party swap from Democrat to Republican back in the fall. He is seeking his seventh term.

Sen. Brent Jackson, representing N.C. Senate’s 10th district, is seeking his fifth term. The Clinton-born farmer currently resides in Autryville. As a legislator, he represents Sampson, Duplin and the southeastern part of Johnston County. He has no opposition in the primary, but has a Democrat challenger, Vernon Moore, in November.

Democrats Kyle Horton and Grayson Parker are vying for the Democratic nod for the U.S. House of Representatives’ District 7 seat. The winner will attempt to knock off Republican Congressman David Rouzer, first elected in 2014.

Those with questions about early voting, or the election in general, can call the Sampson County Board of Elections, at 910-592-5796. See The Independent’s April 24 issue for a comprehensive candidate Q&A session with the candidates involved in Tuesday’s primary.

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Exceeds 1,100 leading up to Tuesday primary

By Chris Berendt

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Reach Managing Editor Chris Berendt at 910-592-8137 ext. 2587. Follow the paper on twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.