Democrats take local seats

Former school board member Ephraigm Smith narrowly defeated incumbent County Commissioner Tom Coulson for the Pitt County Board of Commissioners, according to unofficial results.

Smith, the Democrat, received 50.66 percent of the votes cast; Coulson received 49 percent, according to data on the State Board of Elections web site.

“I'd like to thank the people who supported me I don't think it was so much my win but the people who supported me,” Smith said.

“One of the major issues was taxes, (Coulson) voted to raise taxes the last couple of years and that was what I was hearing most. “People want the county to live within a budget,” Smith said. “I never said I wouldn't raise taxes but I favor a sales tax over the property taxes. Economic conditions of the county and the country we don't need to be raising taxes.”

In Pitt County's other state and local races, state Rep. Marian McLawhorn, a Democrat, handily defeated her Republican challenger Ginny Cooper, receiving 62.33 percent to 37.67 percent of the vote.

Snow Hill Mayor Don Davis is the winner of state Senate District 5 which includes all of Greene and part of Pitt and Wayne counties.

Davis received 40,568 votes to Pate's 36,151 votes.

Smith held a narrow lead over Coulson most of the night, but the outcome was uncertain until the county's approximately 52,000 early and absentee votes were posted after 11 p.m.

Pitt County Elections Director Dave Davis said his office releases one-stop votes at the same time as mail-in absentee votes. His office had to count more than 2,000 mail-in absentee votes today.

“We've been working on the absentees since 2 p.m.,” Davis said minutes before 11 p.m.

Because the ballots were folded when mailed in, the ceases caused the voting machine to repeatedly reject some ballots, he said. One hundred and two ballots had to be counted by hand, he said.

The unofficial results show 74,130 votes were cast either during early voting or on Tuesday. That is 69 percent of the county's registered voters.

“For a presidential election, for us to be done before 11 p.m. I think we have performed admiringly, the board and the staff,” Davis said.

Pitt County joined other eastern North Carolina counties in returning its incumbent congressmen to office Tuesday night.

Republican Rep. Walter Jones Jr. of the 3rd Congressional District won his eighth term. He got nearly 67 percent of the vote to the 33 percent of his Democratic challenger Craig Weber of Morehead City.

“I am always most grateful to the people of the 3rd District that trust me to do what is right for the people in this district and this nation,” Jones said. “We have some very difficult problems facing America and this district.”

Jones stirred controversy among some Republicans in the district after he became critical of President Bush's Iraq War policy. He was unsuccessfully challenged during the Republican primary.

“It is time that both Republicans and Democrats forget the parties and do what is right for America. This county has deep, deep problems and there are no easy solutions. I'm just grateful I have the opportunity to try to serve the people.”

Jones said he'll do so by following the advice of his late father, who also served in Congress.

“My father told me this years ago; vote your conscience first, your constituency second and your party third,” he said, “I've tried to follow that advice because I think that's how you make the right decisions for the people.”

Weber was unavailable for comment.

Pitt County is split between the 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts and 1st District Democratic representative G.K. Butterfield got nearly 70 percent of the vote to his Republican challenger Dean Stephens' 30.42.

Contact Ginger Livingston at glivingston@coxnc.com and (252)329-9573.