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Tuesday’s election proved to be history making for Bladen County with three Republicans gaining seats on the Bladen County Board of Commissioners. Bladen County has 23,073 registered voters and 68.88 percent of the registered voters or 15,892 voters turned out to cast their ballots.
Bladen County Board of Elections Chairman Bobby Ludlum said the voter turn out is “the best I’ve ever seen.” He said he has been working the elections in Bladen County since 1994.
“Bladen County has always had a good turn out compared to the rest of the state,” said Ludlum.
On a day when Republican candidates faired well throughout North Carolina and across the United States, the Republican party saw three candidates elected to the Bladen County Board of Commissioners. Republicans Ray Britt and David Gooden both won County Commissioner At-large seats and they were joined by fellow Republican Ashley S. Trivette, who won election to the County Commissioner District 3 seat.
The results of the County Commissioner Countywide race pending completion of the Vote Canvass are as follows:
Michael G. Cogdell 4,498
Ray Britt 4,378
David Gooden 2,621
Pam Benton 1,933
James G. “Jimmie” Smith 1,874
Randy Crow 159
“Three republicans won county commissioners seats tonight making history because that’s never been done before,” said Ray Britt.
In the County Commissioner District 3 race, pending completion of the Vote Canvass, Republican Ashley S. Trivette received 2,957 votes and Democrat Kenneth Register, Jr. received 2,524 votes.
When asked about her win, Trivette said, “I’m so happy.”
Gooden has served on the Bladen County Board of Commissioners in the past. When asked about his thoughts on the election, Gooden said, “I just want to thank everybody for their support.”
In the race for Bladen County Board of Education District 3, Unaffiliated candidate Chris Clark defeated incumbent Democrat Bonnell Walker. Clark received 2,607 votes to Walker’s 2,385 votes.
When asked about his win, Clark said, ”Thank you for your votes and support. It’s a group effort. There needs to be a lot of changes. The board itself needs to have more power than what it has now. From what I’ve seen the board has no clue as to what goes on. In a nut shell the board needs to have more control over what goes on. It’s all about the children.”
The local option sales tax which would have supported Bladen County EMS was once more soundly defeated with 10,806 votes cast against and 4,235 votes cast in favor.
Another race of interest to Bladen County voters was the NC House District 46 race which featured Democrat Tim Benton facing off against Republican Brenden Jones and Libertarian Thomas “Tom” Howell Jr. With all of the precincts reporting, Jones defeated Benton and Howell.
Jones received 19446 votes; Benton received 11,705 votes and Howell received 1,040 votes.
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