Obama sweeps Davidson precincts
Polls closed at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in North Carolina for the 2008 Primary Election. It took national media outlets about one minute to call the state for Barack Obama in the hotly-contested race to pick a Democrat to run for president in November’s General Election.
Davidson paralleled the state and county results: Democrats voting in the town’s two precincts preferred Obama over his top rival, Hillary Clinton, by more than 2-1. And, surprise surprise, Republicans in Davidson voted overwhelmingly for the presumptive party candidate, John McCain.
See below for Davidson results from all races, plus information on how the three Davidson College alums fared, turnout numbers and early voting results.
“We were busy all day,” reported Lynn Burris, the head judge for Precinct 206, which votes at Davidson Town Hall. “We had a little bit of a slack after 1 p.m. and then The Pines bus came in.”
Photo: The lunchtime lines were long at Davidson Town Hall. Voters cast their ballots in numerous Primary races.
At Davidson’s other precinct, which votes at Hopewell Baptist Church, election judge Brenda Barger (yes, that’s our own Brenda, who writes “Around Davidson” for DavidsonNews.net) reported “a constant dribble” of voters.
Photo: Voters signed in at Hopewell Baptist Tuesday morning.
Turnout and early voting
Election judges reported a turnout of 45 percent in Precinct 206, which votes at Davidson Town Hall and includes the older neighborhoods in Davidson, and about 37 percent in Precinct 127, which votes at Hopewell Baptist Church and includes River Run and other newer housing developments.
That turnout difference may reflect the party loyalties in the two precincts, as Precinct 206 has more Democrats, who are in the midst of a hot national race for naming the presidential candidate. Here’s the party breakdown of how voters in Davidson are registered:
- Precinct 127 (Hopewell) has 708 Democrats, 1,578 Republicans and 708 Unaffaliated
- Precinct 206 (Town Hall) has 1,644 Democrats, 1,160 Republicans and 1,020 Unaffliated
Early voting was conducted for the first time at the Cornelius Public Library, making voting far more convenient for Davidson residents. The new location was popular, drawing 1,300 voters. To put that number into perspective, about 1,300 people voted in all of Mecklenburg County in early voting for the primary two years ago. Over 500 votes were cast for Davidson’s two precincts during the early voting period, which ended Saturday, and results among Democrats showed Obama as the 3-1 favorite over rival Clinton. That follows a big push by the Obama campaign to encourage early voting.
Showing the love for Wildcats
Davidson voters remembered Davidson College alum with considerable fondness. There were three on the ballot -two in the Democratic primary and one among the non-partisan judges races.
Sam J. Ervin IV, whose grandfather chaired the Senate Watergate Committee of the 1970s, is also a Class of 1978 grad of Davidson College. He won 53 percent of the vote in Davidson (as compared to 37 percent of the vote statewide), and was the top vote-getter for the seat currently held by John Tyson on the state Court of Appeals. Mr. Ervin and fellow Democrat Kristin Ruth unseated Judge Tyson, a Republican, who received 21 percent of the statewide vote. For this judicial race, the top two vote getters in the primary face off in the General Election in November.
On the Democratic ballot, Mary Fant Donnan’s status as a Class of 1984 Wildcat helped with Davidson voters, as she earned 42 percent of their votes (as compared with 28 percent statewide) in her successful race to be the Democratic candidate for Commissioner of Labor in November. Meanwhile, Dan Murrey, Class of 1987, garnered 27 percent of the Davidson vote, as compared to 18 percent county-wide, in his successful bid to be among the top three candidates for the at-large County Commissioner seat.
Davidson precincts results for individual races
Full election results for Davidson’s precincts can be found at the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections website.
Here is a list of winners for the two party ballots. Note that number tallies are given first for Precinct 127 (Hopewell) and then for Precinct 206 (Town Hall), followed by the total for the two Davidson precincts. Only the top vote getters are listed. The race winner has an asterick.
Democratic Ballot:
Presidential preference
*Barack Obama - 407 + 926 = 1,333
Hillary Clinton - 272 + 377 = 649
U.S. Senate
*Kay Hagan - 359 + 579 = 938
Jim Neal - 90 + 269 = 359
Governor
*Bev Purdue - 331 + 669 = 1,000
Richard Moore - 239 + 374 = 613
Lieutenant Governor
*Walter Dalton - 128 + 256 = 384
Hampton Dellinger - 253 + 464 = 717
State Auditor
*Beth Wood - 331 + 647 = 978
Fred Aikens - 88 + 161 = 249
State Commissioner of Insurance
*Wayne Goodwin - 236 + 482 = 718
David Smith - 159 + 265 = 424
State Commissioner of Labor
*Mary Fant Donnan - 180 + 343 =523
Robin Anderson - 137 + 246 = 383
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
*June St. Clair Atkinson - 308 + 609 = 917
Eddie Davis - 112 + 208 = 320
State Treasurer
*Janet Cowell 183 + 367 = 550
Michael Weisel - 131 + 247 = 378
County Commissioner at-large seat
*Jennifer Roberts - 445 + 769 = 1,214
*Dan Murrey - 273 + 600 = 873
*Harold Cogdell, Jr. - 175 + 337 = 512
Republican Ballot:
Presidential preference
*John McCain - 315 + 235 = 550
Ron Paul - 38 + 26 = 64
Mike Huckabee - 23 + 28 = 51
U.S. Senate
*Elizabeth Dole - 375 + 283 = 658
Pete Di Lauro - 34 + 28 = 62
Governor
*Pat McCrory - 345 + 245 = 590
Fred Smith - 44 + 41 = 85
Lieutenant Governor
*Robert Pittenger - 286 + 232 = 518
Jim Snyder - 40 + 26 = 66
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
*Richard Morgan - 135 + 107 = 242
Eric Smith - 87 + 67 + 154
Non-Partisan Ballot:
State Court of Appeals (seat held by Wynn)
Jim Wynn - 342 + 507 = 849
Jewel Ann Farlow - 231 + 342 = 573
State Court of Appeals (seat held by Tyson)
Sam Ervin, IV - 384 + 602 = 986
Kristin Ruth - 133 + 213 = 346
John Tyson - 147 + 143 = 290
District Court Judge (Campbell seat)
Rev. Charlotte Brown-Williams - 279 + 504 = 783
Stephen Kearney - 221 + 221 = 442
William Soukup - 160 + 272 = 432
District Court (Moore seat)
Thomas Moore, Jr. - 406 + 498 = 904
Gary Hendeson - 152 + 321 = 473