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Unofficial Nov. 5 general election results posted

POLK COUNTY—In an election season that seemed to last forever, Polk County’s voters have now spoken. 

From president to school board, US Congress to the judiciary, the state legislature to commissioners of executive branch agencies, and county commission to a constitutional amendment, Polk residents had a long list of choices to make. Tryon, Columbus and Saluda residents also made selections for their respective councils.

The North Carolina Board of Elections posted its unofficial 2024 general election results from Nov. 5 general election as follows.

FEDERAL

In the federal races, Polk County followed the rest of the state in casting their votes for Donald Trump for president, incumbent Chuck Edwards (R) for US House District 11 and Tim Moore (R) for US House District 14.

STATE

In the Council of State races, all eyes have been on the governor’s mansion. Josh Stein (D) finished the night over 700,000 votes ahead of challenger Mark Robinson (R), current lieutenant governor. In Polk County, Robinson finished ahead of Stein with 52.41 percent of the vote.  

Throughout the night, the candidates for Lieutenant Governor (Rachel Hunt (D) and Hal Weatherman (R), Attorney General (Jeff Jackson (D) and Dan Bishop (R), Secretary of State (Elaine Marshall (D) and Chad Brown (R), and Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green (D) and Michele Morrow (R), played leapfrog back and forth. In the end, North Carolinians will have Democrats serving in those roles.

Republicans have been elected to serve as Auditor (Dave Boliek), Commissioner of Agriculture (Steve Troxler), Commissioner of Insurance (Mike Causey), Commissioner of Labor (Luke Farley), and State Treasurer (Brad Briner). Polk County voted for all the Republican candidates for those positions.

Incumbents Tim Moffitt (R) of Senate District 48, and Jake Johnson (R) of House District 113 were reelected to their seats in the state legislature.

COURTS

In the Judicial races, Allison Riggs (D) won the NC Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 6. NC Court of Appeals Seat 12 went to Tom Murry (R), Seat 14 to Valerie Zachary (R), and Seat 15 to Chris Freeman (R). Republicans won all four seats in District Court Judge District 42, and include James Marshall, Gene Johnson, Monica Jean Gillett, and Kimberly Gasperson-Justice.

POLK COUNTY

Polk County Board of Commissioners will remain in Republican control. Myron Yoder, incumbent board chairman, was the highest vote getter with 6,280 votes. Newcomer Jennifer Hargett will join the board with 5,959 votes. And Paul (Little) Beiler, also an incumbent, will remain on the board with 5,944 votes.

In the Polk County Board of Education election, Rick Stich (R) will replace Rob Parsons (D) from the Saluda Township. Rick Covil (D) ran unopposed from Tryon Township and garnered 8,073 votes. Lucinda (Cindy) Allen (Unaffiliated) prevailed over Syd Mutschler (D) for the White Oak Township with her 6,204 votes.

Sheila Whitmire (R) ran unopposed for Polk County Register of Deeds. She garnered 9,563 votes.

Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor Randy Smith ran unopposed for that position. He received 8,618 votes. There were 138 write-ins. 

In Columbus, Mayor Patrick McCool ran unopposed for another term. He received 434 votes. There were 12 write-ins. The top three vote getters for Columbus Town Council were Brent Jackson (290 votes), Mark Phillips (282 votes), and Richard Hall (279 votes).

In the race for commissioner for the City of Saluda, the top two vote getters were Melanie Talbot (260 votes) and Kevin Burnett (238 votes).

Tryon Mayor J. Alan Peoples will serve another term as he received 432 votes, or 44.22 percent of votes cast.

Skip Crowe, Tracie Greenway Morris, and Julie Lambakis have been elected to serve as commissioners for the Town of Tryon.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

The constitutional amendment “to provide that only a citizen of the United States who is 18 years of age and otherwise possessing the qualifications for voting shall be entitled to vote at any election in this State,” passed with a resounding 77 percent of the statewide vote.

VOTING STATS

According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, more than 4.2 million North Carolinians cast their ballots during the early in-person voting period. This number surpasses 2020’s early voting figure of 3.6 million ballots.

As of Sunday morning, including absentee voting, 4,465,548 voters cast their ballot in the 2024 general election, or 57 percent of the state’s 7.8 million registered voters, according to NCSBE.gov.

At the close of Tuesday night, 75.87 percent of Polk’s registered voters cast their ballots.