School board candidates Josh Ashe and Danny Jones get top votes
Josh Ashe and Danny Jones
By Becky Long
Publisher
The two seats open on the Clay County Board of Education will most likely be filled by Josh Ashe and incumbent Danny Jones, after they received the most votes among the four candidates in Tuesday’s primary.
Ashe emerged as the top choice with 1,395 votes and Jones followed with 1,159. Incumbent Reba Beck was not far behind with 1,070 and Jeanine Craig finished with 557 votes.
The four candidates appeared on the Republican primary ballot. There was no opposition from the Democratic or Libertarian parties. They will be on the November general election ballot, but with no opposition.
Clay County Elections Board Director Rebecca Hall reported no notable problems in the primary election. The last results were posted around 9:30 p.m. and the new voter ID requirement posed no problems.
“Overall it went well,” she said. “Voter ID went well. Everyone seemed happy to show their IDs.”
Turnout on the local level was down slightly from 2020 with nearly 32 percent, or 3,144, of the registered 9,863 voters casting a ballot.
Absentee voters numbered 28, early voting brought in 1,346 and 1,770 voters turned out for election day. Ballots cast included 2,262 Republican, 477 Democratic Party and five Libertarian. Two ballots are pending.
Overall in most races, Clay County voters reflected the rest of North Carolina. In the GOP presidential race, former president, Donald Trump won against Nikki Haley taking 81.29 percent of the vote compared to 15.73 for Haley. Across North Carolina with 790,750 votes, Trump took nearly 74 percent to Haley’s 23 percent, or 249,651 votes.
In the Democratic Party primary, President Joe Biden took 90 percent or 416 votes in Clay County. There was no opponent, but a “no preference” option which got 46 votes. On the state level, Biden took 87 percent of the vote with a ballot count of 606,302 and 88,021 voted no preference.
In the 11th District GOP congressional race between Christian Reagan, of Clay County, and incumbent Chuck Edwards, the margin was closer on Reagan’s home turf. However, Edwards still led the GOP ballot
1,435 to Reagan’s 1,060.
On the district level, the gap was wider. Edwards won by a margin of 66,475 to Reagan’s 29,982 votes.
In the governor’s race, Josh Stein won the Democratic Party primary with 476,448 votes or 69.64 percent. In November, he will face GOP primary winner Mark Robinson who received 663,917 votes or 64.85 percent.
Results remain unofficial until all counties have a canvass of votes to certify the results which is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday, March 15. Canvass is the official process of determining the votes have been counted and tabulated correctly, resulting in the authentication of the official election results.
Complete results for the state can be found at: ncsbe.gov.
“I appreciate everybody who came out to vote and I appreciate all the election workers,” said Hall.
The general election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 5.