By Peter Vankevich
Incumbent Walter Jones of Greenville, Pitt County, handily won the Republican contest in a special primary June 7 for his Congressional District 3 seat, which includes Ocracoke.
District-wide, Jones captured nearly 65 percent of the vote against Republican challengers, Phil Law (20 percent) and Taylor Griffin (15 percent).
Jones, who has been in Congress since 1995, will vie in the general election Nov. 8 with Democratic challenger Ernest T. Reeves, also of Greenville, who beat David Allan Hurst. Reeves received 55 percent of the vote and Hurst garnered 45 percent.
District 3 includes Currituck, Canderr, Tyrell, Dare, Hyde, Beaufort, Pitt, Pamlico, Craven, Jones, Lenoir, Carteret, Onslow, Wayne and Duplin counties.
In February, the General Assembly enacted S.L. 2016-01 and S.L. 2016-02, which redrew districts for the U.S. House of Representatives and established a primary for U.S. House of Representatives on June 7. Those district lines were under review by a federal court and
were not final at the time of the March 15 primary, which necessitated another primary.
For the N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice position, incumbent Robert H. (Bob) Edmunds will face off against Michael R. (Mike) Morgan in the November election.
Those on Ocracoke who voted in this specially scheduled primary braved high winds and
rain to make it to the voting site in the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department building.
Only 75 of the 788 registered voters on the island turned out to vote, which included the early voting day on June 2.
Of those 75 island voters, Morgan received 42 votes; Sabra Jean Faires, 15; Edmunds, 10 and Daniel Robertson, 5.
Entire District 3 results:
Republican:
Walter B. Jones 15,722; 64.83 percent
Phil Law 4,929; 20.33 percent
Taylor Griffin 3,599; 14.84 percent
Democrat:
Ernest T. Reeves 6,402; 54.60 percent
David Allan Hurst 5,323; 45.40 percent
Entire State-wide Supreme Court Associate Justice results:
Robert H. (Bob) Edmunds 234,142; 48.06 percent
Michael R. (Mike) Morgan 167,222; 34.33 percent
Sabra Jean Faires 58,588; 12.03 percent
Daniel Robertson 27,220; 5.59 percent
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