Final Unofficial Results Strong for GOP Candidates Here

Final unofficial results
Republican candidates had a good night in Columbus County, although a major race will see a Democrat sworn into replace a GOP senator.
With 100 percent of the votes reporting, the race for U.S. Senate had Michael Whatley winning Columbus over former Gov. Roy Cooper 9,449 to 7,160 in Columbus. Statewide, however, Cooper has been projected winner of the senate seat.
Congressman David Rouzer will return to Washington, defeating Democrat Kimberly Hardy  10,265 to 6,594.
State Rep. Brenden Jones outlasted Democrat Brittany Newton, 10,060 to 6,724.
State Sen. Bill Rabon, who represents Brunswick and Columbus, is ahead of Democrat Rick Combes 10,025 to 6,593 here.
In the county board of education race for District 2, Ronnie Strickland leads Beatrice Addison 7,624 to 4,757.
In District 3, Republican Irvin Enzor is unopposed, and has received 8,734.
In District 4 for the county schools, Chris Worley is unopposed, and had 8,765.
For the city schools races, District 1 incumbent Anna Richardson and District 2 David Flowers are unopposed. RIchardson has 752, and Flowers, 644.
Byron Fisher and Edward Squires are running for the single city Schools at-large seat. Fisher has 1,941 and Squires 1,659.
In the County Commissioner’s race for District 7, incumbent Republican Scott Floyd defeated Democrat Jeff Register, 1,307 to 881.
Democrat District 1 commission candidate Barbara Featherson, who is unopposed, has 1,518.
Jeanne McPherson, who defeated incumbent Rickey Bullard for the Republican nomination for District 6 on the county commissioner’s race, is unopposed. McPherson has 1,965.
Sheriff Bill Rogers, who is unopposed, had 11,723.
Clerk of Superior Court Jess Hill, who is also unopposed, gathered 12,663 votes.
In the bitterly contested State Supreme Court race,  Republican Sarah Stevens beat Democrat incumbent Anita Earls 9,587 to 7,249 here.
Three constitutional amendments and four local referenda were also on the ballot.
Columbus County voters have been firmly in favor of the amendment requiring photo identification to vote, capping the personal income tax, and requiring local property tax hikes to be approved by the legislature.
For the photo identification amendment, 12,944 voted n favor and 3,528 against.
In the maximum personal income tax rate, 12,937 voted in favor and 3,517 were against.
In the property tax referenda, 12,149 voted for the amendment, and 4,291 were against.
The county one-quarter-cent sales tax also appears on the way to failing, with 9,467 voters disapproved and 76,719 were in favor of the sales tax.
Favorable votes led in the countywide beer, wine and mixed drink referenda. Rural beer sales gathered 8,086 for and 7,839 against; rural wine sales 8,039 for to 7,839 against, and mixed drink sales 8,718 for to 7,260 against.
We’ll have a full report tomorrow at Columbuscountynews.com.