Rogers, Somers, McPherson Clear Winners in Columbus
Tuesday’s primaries saw 19 percent of registered voters turn out in Columbus, but left clear winners in the unofficial results.
Jeanne McPherson ousted incumbent Republican Rickey Bullard for the District Six County Commissioner’s seat. Bullard has held the post for 20 years. McPherson won 665 votes to Bullard’s 522. Jody L. Hinson received 49.
W.A. Bill Rogers won his first election for sheriff, gathering 2,258 votes to Josh McPherson’s 1,709, Ken Elliot’s 788 and Kevin Norris’ 549.
“I’m just thankful to God that the people of Columbus County have spoken,” Rogers said. “We have accomplished a lot in the past four years, and I look forward to doing more to serve them.” Rogers was appointed to replace Jody Greene after Greene’s reelection in 2022. With no Democrat challenger in the fall, Rogers will be the only candidate on the November ballot.
Uncontested races were not on the primary ballot, but will appear in the fall.
Democrat candidates were missing in most local races during this primary. Barbara Featherson was unopposed for the Democrat nod for the District One seat she currently holds. Jeff Register defeated Alonzo McArthur 134 to 52 to face Incumbent Republican Scott Floyd for the District Seven seat this fall.
Republican Ronnie Dale Strickland is unopposed for the County Board of Education District Two nomination. He will face Democrat Beatrice Addison-Robinson in November.
Retiring Republican District Attorney Jon David endorsed his first assistant, Jenna Early, for the DA nomination but Brunswick County attorney J.K. Somers soundly defeated Early across the three counties, 14,113 to 12,640.
The prosecutorial district is comprised of Brunswick, Bladen and Columbus counties. Totals for Columbus were the closest in the DA’s race, with Somers at 2,436 and Early at 2,394. In Bladen Early gathered 930 to Somers’ 1,637, and Brunswick saw 10,040 support Somers over Early’s 9,316. The DA’s office went into the election with back-to-back mistrials in high profile cases in all three counties.
Clerk of Superior Court Jess Hill is unopposed in the primary, and no Democrats foiled to run for the post in the fall.
In state races, Republican Brenden Jones, the incumbent representative from Tabor City, will face Democrat Brittany Newton of Whiteville in November. Fair Bluff native and Southport resident Bill Rabon had no challenger in the Republican primary for State Senate. He will face Democrat Rick Combes of Ocean Isle and Libertarian Timothy White of Wilmington, neither of whom had contested races for their respective nominations.
Congressman David Rouzer will face Democrat Kimberly Hardy in the fall, taking 80 percent of the votes across the district to David Buzzard’s 20 percent.
Two powerful U.S. Senate candidates will face off in the fall after easily winning nominations. Former RNC leader Michael Whatley, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, will face former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper. The former governor has never lost an election in more than 20 years, since first he won a seat in the state house and moved up to be elected attorney general and then governor.
Cooper received 758,808 statewide, and Whatley 404,199. Locally, Whatley took 2,949 in the primary, to Cooper’s 1,706.
As of Feb. 28, when registration closed, Columbus County had 36,993 registered voters, including 11,731 Democrats, 11,880 Republicans, and 13,252 unaffiliated. More than 250 voters joined the Republican party in the weeks prior to the primary.
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