Lee wins commissioners’ race

Sampson County Dist. 4 incumbent commissioner Lethia Lee was poised to capture a second term in office Tuesday night in a closely watched race that pitted the Democrat against a last minute write-in candidate in volunteer firefighter Foy Jenkins, a Republican.

With only one precinct unreported at the Independent’s press deadline, Lee was leading 2,782 votes (68 percent) to a total 1,283 write-in ballots cast (31 percent).

Only Garland’s ballots were unaccounted for at 10 p.m. When workers came to the Sampson Board of Elections Tuesday night, they had forgotten the thumb drive with the results, meaning they had to make a return trip to the southern town to retrieve the drive and return it to Clinton.

Reports indicate that only 298 people cast ballots in Garland, not enough to change the outcome of Lee’s race.

In a telephone interview Tuesday night, Lee was tired but thrilled over the victory.

“This has been tough,” she said. “It’s been really tough, and mind-boggling.”

While she said she tried to run a positive campaign against a last-minute candidate, it was hard to fight the innuendos being lodged against her.

But in the end, she said, people went with someone they knew and, she believed, trusted.

“I am so very thankful for all of my supporters,” Lee said. “They have worked hard for me, and I intend to work hard for them, for all those in my district, all those in the county. I am blessed.”

In state races, it appears incumbent Sen. Brent Jackson will hold on to his seat, although at deadline all results from Dist. 9 had not been tallied. Jackson was leading in Sampson and Bladen by large margins. In Sampson, with only Garland unaccounted for, Jackson had 15,752 votes to challenger Jamie Campbell Bowles, 8,595. In Bladen, Jackson had 9,586 votes (59 percent) to Bowles’ 6,434 votes (40 percent)

While unofficial vote totals were heavily leaning in Jackson’s favor, another Sampson County resident running in the state House race doesn’t appear to be as lucky. Josh Harrell, who was challenging incumbent Dist. 22 Rep. William Brisson, was trailing Brisson, 9,818 votes (37 percent) to 16,361 for the Bladen native.

Brisson took his home county with over 58 percent of the vote. With all 17 precincts reporting there, Brisson had 9,545 votes to Harrell’s 6,636.

“I am proud of the race that I ran,” Harrell said Tuesday night. “A lot of voters were ready for a change, unfortunately the turnout was not where we needed it to be.”

Harrell said he wasn’t sure what the future might hold for him, but he assured those who supported him that he would continue to advocate for the community.

“And I wish the incumbent the best over the next two years,” he said.

Even without Garland’s numbers, a historic 27,793 people cast ballots in Sampson’s election, meaning nearly 71 percent of the total 39,148 registered voters went to the polls to help choose candidates in the 2024 election, some 4,000 more than in 2020.

Over 20,000 Sampsonians voted early.

When early voting tallies came in just before 9 p.m. Tuesday night, Lee held a 68 percent to 31 percent lead over her opponent. Unofficial early voting numbers show Lee received 2,128 votes; there were 987 write-ins.

At the polls Tuesday, an exhausted Lee was working hard to share with voters why she believed her candidacy was important. “We’ve done a lot of good things since I’ve been on the board,” Lee told one voter, “and I want a chance to continue what we’ve started.

As she shook hands and chatted with voters, chants from supporters were encouraging Lee. “You’ve got this,” one supporter yelled.

A humbled Lee just said, “thank you for voting.”

The strain of a day-long jaunt across Sampson — from Harrells to Garland to Lakewood and back to the Agri-Exposition Center in Clinton, just to name a few stops — was beginning to show as Lee declared that she would be waiting for the results from her home.

“I’m really tired,” she acknowledged. “I’ve been back and forth all day to the different polling places.”

Lee admitted that running for her second term had been difficult. She fought off two challengers in the Democratic primary back in the spring and found out as she moved toward the November election that a Harrells firefighter was making a last-minute write-in bid for the Dist. 4 seat.

“This has been, without a doubt, the toughest election I think anybody has ever gone through,” she attested.

But despite the battle, Lee said late Tuesday that she felt positive about the outcome. “I do feel good about this so far, but I tell you feelings don’t make the numbers.”