See state election results Page A6
Combined with a large early voter turnout, Sampson saw citizens by the thousands cast their ballot in Election 2012, which seated a Republican governor, returned the Democratic Register of Deeds to her job locally, as well as likely returning the Democratic Dist. 7 U.S. congressional incumbent to his seat, while giving a boost to the election hopes of presidential contender Gov. Mitt Romney.
While the presidential race was still too close to call at the Independent’s press time, Sampson residents, at least, gave the nod to Romney, who had 14,358 votes to Obama’s 11,496.
The unofficial results in Sampson showed that a total 26,310 of the county’s 37,979 registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election or during the period of early voting, which wrapped up Saturday. Of those voting, 9,382 voted a straight Democratic ticket and another 8,318 voted a straight Republican ticket.
Those numbers don’t necessarily mirror the way voting went, with statewide races being split between the GOP and Democrats. While McCrory easily swept by Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton in the governor’s race in Sampson, winning 14,440 votes to 11,265, as did GOP Lt. Gov. contender Dan Forest who, here, defeated Democrat Linda Coleman 13,261 votes to 12,260 votes, Sampson gave some Council of State seats to the Democrats.
In Sampson, incumbent Beth Wood defeated her GOP opponent here 13,007 votes to 12,215 in the State Auditor’s race; Secretary of State Elaine Marshall took Sampson 13,452 to opponent Ed Goodwin’s 12,076; and June Atkinson held on in Sampson to defeat John Tedesco for the Superintendent of Public Instruction seat, 13,445 votes to his 11,919.
Republicans won the Commissioner of Insurance race in Sampson, along with the Commissioner of Agriculture and the Commissioner of Labor. Sampson residents gave judge seats to Paul Newby, Linda McGee, Wanda Bryant and Cressie Thigpen. Those races had not been called statewide at press time.
Uncontested races in Sampson, gave Judge Carol Jones back her seat, seated Doug Parsons as a Superior Court Judge and returned Leonard Thaggard and Louis Foy to their District Court seats.
The election also saw incumbent commissioner Billy Lockamy, who ran unopposed, returned to the board, and sealed the win for newcomer Harry Parker, who also ran unopposed.
On Tuesday, election lines in Sampson weren’t nearly as long as those seen in other parts of the country, but some precincts saw more residents throughout the day than others. At Rowan, a longer line formed earlier in the morning, but then waned to a trickling of folks for the remainder of the day. It appeared to be about the same at a sampling of Sampson’s 22 other precincts.
But despite a good early voter turnout, Tuesday was not without its quirks. At the Board of Elections office, just off Rowan Road, the staff fielded calls throughout the day, most trying to determine if they were registered to vote or, if they were, where, exactly they were supposed to go cast their ballot.
Yet, elections director Donna Marshburn said, overall, the election went smoothly with no known problems. “There were some minor issues, but they were minor and fixed quickly. I think things went well,” she noted.
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