By Sonny Jones
Eleven candidates filed for local offices last week at the Bladen County Board of Elections before the state Supreme Court suspended filing Wednesday and delayed the primary two months. The court’s decision was made in order to resolve lawsuits filed against North Carolina’s district plans for state, federal and judicial offices.
Here is a list of candidates who filed for Bladen County offices prior to the suspension of the filing period (D-Democrat, R-Republican):
BLADEN COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
District 1: Arthur A. Bullock (D)
District 2: Charles Ray Peterson (R)
District 3: Cameron McGill (R)
BLADEN COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
County-wide: Cory Singletary (D), Vince Rozier (D)
District 1: Gary N. Rhoda (D)
BLADEN COUNTY CLERK OF SUPERIOR COURT
Althea Dixon Weaver (D)
Jason Britt (R)
Cristin Hursey (R)
BLADEN COUNTY REGISTER OF DEEDS
Beverly T. Parks (R)
BLADEN COUNTY SHERIFF
Gary S. Edwards (R)
Filing for all offices was scheduled to end Dec. 17. It’s uncertain when filing will reopen. A panel of three trial judges are expected to consider the merits of the case and rule by Jan. 11.
The court order moved the primary elections from March 8 to May 17.
The lawsuits filed by the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee claim that Republicans would win 10 of 14 seats for U.S. Congress if maps approved by the General Assembly were allowed. According to the state Board of Elections, as of Dec. 11, there were 2,494,803 voters registered as Democrats and 2,181,796 registered Republicans along with 2,462,903 unaffiliated voters in North Carolina.
Here is a list of candidates who filed for federal, state and judicial offices prior to the suspension of the filing period (D-Democrat, R-Republican):
U.S. SENATE
Rett Newton (D)
Constance (Lov) Johnson (D)
Benjamin E. Griffiths (R)
Ms. Lee A Brian (R)
Lichia Sibhatu (R)
Jen Banwart (R)
Charles Kenneth Moss (R)
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
District 3: Brian Michael Friend (R)
N.C. SUPREME COURT ASSOCIATE JUSTICE
Seat 3: Lucy Inman (D), Richard Dietz (R)
Seat 5: Sam J. Ervin IV (D), April C. Wood (R), Trey Allen (R)
N.C. COURT OF APPEALS
Seat 8: Julee Tate Flood (R)
Seat 9: Beth Freshwater Smith (R), Donna Stroud (R)
Seat 10: Gale Murray Adams (D), John M. Tyson (R)
Seat 11: Darren Jackson (D), Michael J. Stading (R)
N.C. STATE SENATE
District 9: Brent Jackson (R)
District 22: William Brisson (R)
N.C. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE
Seat 2: Preston B. Hilton (R)
Seat 7: Sarah McPherson (R)
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
District 15: Jon David (R)
About Author
