Tammy Grady made history Tuesday night, becoming Sampson County’s first female Clerk of Court, and newcomer Wellie Jackson pushed closer to his first political seat, soundly defeating his House 22 opponent in both Bladen and Sampson counties.
Grady narrowly defeated other newcomer Cashie P. Lee, 3,325, or 51 percent of the total votes cast, to 3,113 or 48 percent.
Unofficial results show that Sampson County Sheriff Jimmy Thornton will also move on to face Democratic challenger Donald Edwards in November, defeating his opponent, Tracy Jackson, 4,529 votes, or 69 percent, to 2,009 votes, or 30 percent of the total vote, with all 23 precincts reporting.
And incumbent Sen. Brent Jackson was returned to his District 9 seat for another term after capturing the largest percentage of the vote from constituents in his five-county district.
Grady has no Democratic opposition in November so, barring an unforeseen write-in campaign, she will take the reins from current Clerk Chris Fann in December.
In the Sampson County Board of Education race, only incumbent Daryll Warren maintained his seat on the board, while two newcomers, Michael Elmore and Krystin Moore McPhail, took the other two positions, defeating incumbent Sonya Powell and two others running, Mikasa Melvin and James Jones. Warren was the top vote-getter with 1,413 followed by Elmore with 1,345 and McPhail with 1,287.
All the vote totals will remain unofficial until the canvass, set to be held by the Sampson Board of Elections Friday, March 13.
Clerk’s Race
Grady and Lee’s race remained close from the beginning, when Grady, a former assistant clerk and now a magistrate, led in early voting and absentee totals.
That continued throughout the evening, with Grady taking the lead and winning by a total 51 percent of the total 9,547 votes cast in the Republican primary. Lee had 48 percent of the vote.
From her watch party at Ted’s in Clinton, an ecstatic Grady began by thanking God. “I’m blessed to have all the support that I had, and I’m looking forward to serving everyone in Sampson County. My door will always be open, and I’m thankful that I’ve been elected the first female clerk of Sampson County, and I’m just overwhelmed and humbled, all at the same time.”
Lee declined comment Tuesday night, saying she wanted to wait until more officials results were available.
Sheriff’s Race
Neither Thornton nor Jackson immediately answered calls for comment Tuesday night.
House Dist. 22
From the start Wellie Jackson has said he’s no politician, and declared his desire to head to Raleigh was all about fighting for farmers and small businesses. That message apparently resonated from one end of the district to the other, as the newcomer carried most of the precincts in both counties and amassed over 70 percent of the total votes cast.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Wellie Jackson said in a telephone interview Tuesday night from a watch party being held in his honor. “I have learned how great Sampson and Bladen counties are in this process.
“I thank all my supporters; they made it fun. They believed in me and I appreciate their votes.”
Kivett, who worked hard to show that Jackson was being funded by big money and politicians from across the state, was unable to make his case stick.
In a phone interview Tuesday night, Kivett said it had been a really hard campaign. “I thought they ran a very strong campaign,” he said of Wellie Jackson’s run. “They had the funding, and I was trying to run my campaign within my own confines. I hope they run things in Raleigh like they ran their campaign, and do right by Sampson and Bladen counties.”
Senate Dist. 9
Residents in Sampson, Bladen, Jones, Pender and Duplin counties decided Tuesday night to send their long-time senator, Brent Jackson, back to Raleigh for another term.
Jackson handily defeated Duplin newcomer Barbour 13,674 votes to 3,722. In Jackson’s home county of Sampson, he carried the vote 4,900 to Barbour’s 792.
The incumbent senator carried all five counties. In Jones, with all seven precincts reporting, Sen. Jackson had 77 percent of the vote or a total 725 votes to Barbour’s 212, or 22 percent. In Bladen, Jackson, with 17 of 17 precincts, had 2,216 votes to Barbour’s 456; in Pender, 4,045 votes to Barbour’s 1,898.
In a phone interview from his home, the Sampson senator said he was a bit uncomfortable commenting before the results were final, but, he added, “I appreciate the support District 9 has given me, and before that I was in Dist. 10 … they have been really good to me; I’m really honored and humbled, and I thank them for their support.”