The Vance County portion of the May 17, 2022 primary saw final, unofficial results in less than two hours after the polls closed at 7:30 p.m. and two challengers in the winners column.
Not a situation of being too close to call but indeed a situation of being very close was Sean Alston’s 270 votes to Gordon Wilder’s 260 votes for Vance County Board of Commissioners District 3.
After learning of Alston’s victory, the incumbent candidate Wilder told WIZS News when asked about a recount, “I think it would be wise to do so.”
As there is no Republican challenger in November for this County Commissioners seat, the primary outcome is in effect the election.
As for the City of Henderson Alderman At-Large 2nd Ward, incumbent William T. Burnette was unseated by challenger Lamont Noel. Noel earned 765 votes to Burnette’s 632. That’s close enough for a recount according to elections officials, but when asked Burnette said to WIZS News, “With Mr. Noel winning 45 percent of the votes, I don’t think a recount is necessary.”
As the City election is a non-partisan, municipal election, it too is the election despite otherwise being at the same time as the primary.
Incumbent candidate and Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame will be able to continue to seek office in the general election after defeating challenger Sterlin Walker in the Democratic primary. Brame earned 3,232 votes to Walker’s 867.
Brame will be challenged in November by Republican Patrick Bailey who defeated Jonathan Collier. The Bailey and Collier totals were 760 and 433 respectively.
The other closely contested race was for Vance County Clerk of Superior Court. In the Democratic primary, incumbent Henry Gupton received 2,138 votes while challenger Amanda Burnette received 1,930. As there is no Republican challenger, it is a successful re-election bid for Gupton.
The other contested Henderson City Council seat was for Alderman At-Large 1st Ward where incumbent Sara Coffey defeated challenger Clementine Hunter 1,416 to 246.
Otherwise, in purely local Vance County races, Garry Daeke was unopposed for City of Henderson Alderman 3rd Ward and received 257 votes, and Ola Thorpe-Cooper was unopposed for the City of Henderson Alderman 4th Ward seat. She received 310 votes.