The candidate filing period for the May 8 primary elections begins today at noon. In Orange County, 10 seats in various state and county races are up for grabs.
| Contest | Affiliation | Filing Date |
| NC Senate District 23 [map] | ||
| Dave Carter | Rep | Feb 20 |
| Ellie Kinnaird (i) | Dem | Feb 15 |
| NC House District 50 [map] | ||
| Justin Chambers | Rep | Feb 27 |
| Rod Chaney | Rep | Feb 13 |
| Valerie Foushee | Dem | Feb 13 |
| W. Lewis Hannah, Jr | Rep | Feb 14 |
| Travis Phelps | Dem | Feb 20 |
| Thomas Samuel Wright | Rep | Feb 17 |
| NC House District 56 [map] | ||
| Verla C. Insko (i) | Dem | Feb 13 |
| Karrie Mead | Rep | Feb 21 |
| Orange County Commissioner District 1 (2 seats) [map] | ||
| Mark Dorosin | Dem | Feb 20 |
| Pam Hemminger (i) | Dem | Feb 13 |
| Penny Rich | Dem | Feb 14 |
| Orange County Commissioner District 2 (1 seat) [map] | ||
| Renee Price | Dem | Feb 13 |
| Chris Weaver | Rep | Feb 13 |
| Steve Yuhasz (i) | Dem | Feb 13 |
| Orange County Commissioner at large (1 seat) | ||
| Mary Carter | Rep | Feb 14 |
| Bernadette Pelissier (i) | Dem | Feb 13 |
| Orange County Board of Education (3 seats) | ||
| | - | |
| Stephen H. Halkiotis (i) | - | Feb 13 |
| Tony McKnight (i) | - | Feb 14 |
| Tommy T. McNeill | - | Feb 13 |
| Lawrence Sanders | - | Feb 13 |
| District Court Judge - District 15B - Anderson Seat | ||
| Charles Anderson (i) | - | Feb 14 |
| District Court Judge - District 15B - Bryan Seat | ||
| Jay Bryan (i) | - | Feb 13 |
| District Court Judge - District 15B - Long Seat | ||
| Lunsford Long (i) | - | Feb 15 |
| District Court Judge - District 15B - Scarlett Seat | ||
| Beverly A. Scarlett (i) | - | Feb 14 |
Updates on candidate filings will appear on the Orange County Board of Elections website at http://www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/2012%20Elections/2012CandidateFiling.asp. See the recent post by Erin Crouse for a discussion of local implications of the recent statewide redistricting.
Also on the May 8 ballot: Amendment One, North Carolina's very own gay-bashing constitutional amendment. You can find information about how to defeat Amendment One at the Protect All NC Families website.
The candidate filing period will end at noon on February 29.
Issues:
Comments
officuial board of elections filing page
http://www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/2012%20Elections/2012CandidateFiling.asp
Werewolves of Orange County
I saw Rod Chaney walking down Queen St.His hair was perfect.
Begs the question
Where Wolff's of Orange County?
New movie?
Called "Orange" instead of "Grey".
Commissioners warming up
Looking at http://www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/2012%20Elections/2012CandidateFiling.asp, I see the incumbents are coming out strong, with Commissioners Pelissier (at large), Yuhasz (D2/north), and Hemminger (D1/south) filing for re-election. Yuhasz has already drawn a challenger in Renee Price, and whoever wins the Democratic primary will face Republican Chris Weaver in November. Chris will provide some tea-party flavored variety in that race, but I'd pretty surprised if he does much more than that. Interestingly, I learned a few days ago that Commissioner Foushee will not be filing for re-election to the other southern district (D1) seat and have also heard from no less than 3 (!) strong candidates who are considering running in that district (which has two seats up for election this year). Pam Hemminger may have a tough time just holding on to her seat.
Foushee
And Val Foushee has now filed to run in NC House 50! I think her chances are good, but there could be another strong candiate from Durham since the rural part of that county is now in this district as well.
Will be interesting
to see who files to run for County Commission now that Foushee is running for HD 50. I can think of some candidates I'd like to see..
Durham County candidates in House 50
I don't know who that "strong candidate" would be. No one has run successfully for County-wide office **from any of the House 50 precincts** (except for sheriff) in Durham Co. for many years. Will be interesting to see. I believe that Val F can do well in most of the CH precincts in the district. Those have by far the highest density of voters of all the district's precincts. Ed Harrison
Foushee has a Democratic opponent...
Travis Phelps, 22, of Durham. though by the looks of his campaign and personnal Facebook pages, I'm not sure how well the Democratic moniker fits.
This person will not win
This person will not win a primary in a district that includes a number of Chapel Hill precincts. When someone with a history of getting votes in Durham County files, will let folks know. Ed Harrison
Good news for BOCC
New blood. Sometimes the lure of higher office helps us upgrade the BOCC.
If a candidate draws breath
and commits to doing their homework, Hemminger is history.
Durham candidate page
http://co.durham.nc.us/departments/elec/CANDIDATE_FILING/2012/cont_cand_rpt.pdf
Penny Rich!
I was very excited to see that Chapel Hill Town Council Member Penny Rich has also filed to run for one of the two available southern seats (aka District 1) on the Board of County Commissioners. She would bring tremendous energy and much-needed leadership to that body. I'm confident that we will be seeing at least one other challenger in that race, which is great. I think the Commissioners have been flying under our radar for way too long, and county government is not just the "caboose" as commissioner Barry Jacobs recently stated, it's going off the tracks.
No primary for State Senate
State Sen. Bob Atwater (D), with whom Sen. Kinnaird was double-bunked, will not be seeking re-election, per NCDP: http://www.ncdp.org/news/entry/sen.-bob-atwater-will-not-seek-re-election/
Election guide?
Is there a resource that explains why the county commission has the (somewhat) strange composition of sub-county and at-large seats? How often are the commissioners up for re-election? Are the terms staggered (as appears to be the case)?
Here's some information from
Here's some information from our archives: http://orangepolitics.org/2006/10/the-county-wants-you-to-know-about-dis...The short story is there were some people who lived out in the county that felt like their voice wasn't being heard. So, in 2006, there was a referendum on the ballot to move to district representation. The seats are staggered, and each district selects their candidate in the primary. Then the entire county votes between the Democratic and Republican nominee in the general election. I am not sure if this system has done what it was intended to do, but it's what we have for now.
Cumulative voting
A committee formed to study fair representation for the county in 1993, suggested that cumulative voting would be a very good solution. The committee was formed by incumbents (mainly Moses Carey) and stacked with folks they thought would conclude that the existing system was just fine. At the beginning of the process a large majority of members stated that they expected to find no reason to change the system. After public hearings and studying the situation, it was nearly unanimous that teh system should be changed. So Carey and others tossed their report into the dustbin. Cumulative voting would be far superior to this clunky hybrid district plan.
Referendum Results?
Does anyone know/know where I could find the vote totals for the approval of this district plan from '06? Just curious as to how the referendum was worded, and the margin of victory.
Is this what you are looking for?
Results: http://www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/2006general/precinct.htm#ReferendumThe ballot wording can be found here:http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/72/NC_Orange_Co_Ballot_Style_1_...
Exactly
what I was looking for. Thanks, Jason!
Withdrawl?
I don't see A. Scott Broaddus on the BOE webpage anymore. Did he withdraw? The only mentions I could find about him online was a complaint about the sales tax referendum last year that was included in an OC GOP press release, and a few other tea party things.Seems like lots of Republicans are lining up (for defeat, IMHO). I wonder if the robocalls I had heard about urging conservatives to run for office had something to do with that?
He's off the list
I talked to Scott this afternoon. He withdrew citing a personal conflict, but says he's very excited to run for the school board in the future.
OCS School Board Candidate Lawrence Sanders
Please visit www.sandersforschools.com to learn more about me, why I am running and what my primary goals are as a future board member. Thanks!Lawrence Sanders, Sr.
Mark Dorosin for County Commissioner
I'm excited to report that Mark Dorosin (former Carrboro Alderperson) filed to run in District 1 today! We now have two very strong challengers who present a different direction and style of leadership from Pam Hemminger and the rest of the incumbent Commissioners.
The importance of education
It's not obvious to me why you are targeting Pam or any single one of the commissioners for poor leadership. We've seen a strong leader like Mike Nelson fail to make any impact on the culture of the BOCC which means, to me, that there is a systemic problem rather than one associated with any single individual.Personally, I believe that Pam serves a vital role on the BOCC and I would hate to see her replaced. With the departure of Valerie Foushee, Pam is the commissioner with the deepest understanding of the educational issues facing this community. As Mark Dorosin points out in his candidacy annoucement, the rate of povery in Orange County is inexcusable. The way out of povery is through education.
BOCC funds education but SB's do the real work
I've been to a good number of BOCC meetings and heard them consider a number of inportant planning issues. It was obvious that Pam either didn't read her meeting packet or simply was unable to understand the issues. She rarely spoke a word. You had to be there.
Filing is now closed
Candidate filing closed at noon today. Looking over the list of candidates, it seems that NC District 50 and County Commissioner District 1 and District 2 are going to be the races to watch this spring!