Watauga County Candidate Filing Ends for 2020 Election Season; Primary Set For March 3

By Nathan Ham

A pair of last-minute filers made it to the Watauga County Board of Elections by the noon deadline today to file for the 2020 elections. Turner Doolittle has decided to challenge N.C. Representative Ray Russell in the Democratic primary while republican Bart Keller will challenge incumbent Charlie Wallin for the Watauga County Board of Commissioners District 5 seat. 

Now that candidate registration is over, voters can turn their attention towards choosing the candidate that they see as the best fit for the position. March 3, 2020, is the date for the North Carolina Primary, however, there are numerous one-stop early voting dates before the actual primary date. Early voting begins on Thursday, February 13 and will conclude on Saturday, February 29. The voting hours will be from 8 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 29. That is the only Saturday that early voting will be happening. 

“We have seven early voting sites this year including the new one in Foscoe which we think is great. We’re very excited about that,” said Matthew Snyder, the Watauga County Board of Elections Director. 

As a reminder, people can check their voter registration status to make sure they are properly registered to vote by going to the NC Board of Elections website and simply searching your first and last name. This info will also show you your voting precinct and includes a list of the previous elections that you have participated in. 

Snyder said that election training will begin as soon as the second week of January in preparation for what is sure to be a busy 2020 election season. 

“We’re always interested in folks that want to work for the board of elections, we always have a need for precinct Election Day workers and one-stop workers,” Snyder added. The positions are paid positions that range from $9 to $12 an hour. 

According to Snyder, there are 35 presidential candidates total on the primary ballot.

“I would say that’s the most presidential candidates in North Carolina ever,” Snyder laughed. 

The March primary will determine who is going to be on the ballot in November, however, a second primary might be needed for some of the races if a candidate does not receive a big enough margin of votes. 

This primary will also be the first with voter ID laws being enforced. 

“People have probably gotten things in the mail that will explain some of the voter ID issues, but if people have any questions about whether their ID is eligible or not, they can call us and we can help them through that. We can also create an acceptable ID here in our office at no charge that is good for voting purposes only,” Snyder said. “The big thing to remember is that everyone will be offered a ballot. If they do not have a proper ID they will be offered a provisional ballot and told what they need to bring in to make sure that ballot is counted so I don’t want that to discourage anyone from voting.”

The last day to register to vote in the primary is February 7. 

One-Stop Early Voting locations

Watauga County Administration Building – 814 West King Street, Boone
ASU Plemmons Student Union, Blue Ridge Ballroom – 263 Locust Street, Boone
Blowing Rock Town Hall – 1036 Main Street, Blowing Rock
Deep Gap Fire Department – 6583 Old 421 South, Deep Gap
Meat Camp Fire Department – 4797 NC HWY 194 North, Meat Camp
Western Watauga Community Center – 1081 Old US 421, Sugar Grove
High Country Vacation Homes – 520 Church Road, Foscoe

*Same Day Registration is available at all One-Stop sites. Proof of residence within Watauga County is required for Same Day Registration. Call 828-265-8061 for what documents can be used for proof of residency.*

Watauga County Board of Elections 2020 Candidate List

*Final list

United States President (Constitution Party)

Don Blankenship

Charles Kraut

United States President (Democrat Party)

Michael Bennet

Joseph R. Biden

Michael R. Bloomberg

Cory Booker

Pete Buttigieg

Julian Castro

John K. Delaney

Tulsi Gabbard

Amy Klobuchar

Deval Patrick

Bernie Sanders

Tom Steyer

Elizabeth Warren

Marianne Williamson

Andrew Yang

United States President (Green Party)

Howie Hawkins

United States President (Libertarian Party)

Max Abramson

Ken Armstrong

Dan Behrman

Kenneth Blevins

Souraya Faas

Erik Gerhardt

Jedidiah Hill

Jacob Hornberger

Jo Jorgensen

Adam Kokesh

John McAfee

James Orlando Ogle

Steve Richey

Kim Ruff

Vermin Supreme

Arvin Vohra

United States President (Republican Party)

Donald J. Trump

United States Senate (Constitution Party)

Kevin E. Hayes

United State Senate (Democrat Party)

Trevor M. Fuller

Steve Swenson

Cal Cunningham

Atul Goel

Erica D. Smith

United States Senate (Libertarian Party)

Shannon W. Bray

United States Senate (Republican Party)

Thom Tillis

Paul Wright

United States House of Representatives District 05 (Constitution Party)

Jeff Gregory

United States House of Representatives District 05 (Democrat Party)

David Wilson Brown

United States House of Representatives District 05 (Republican Party)

Virginia Foxx

North Carolina Governor (Constitution Party)

Al Pisano

North Carolina Governor (Democrat Party)

Roy Cooper

North Carolina Governor (Libertarian Party)

Steven J. DiFiore

North Carolina Governor (Republican Party)

Holly Grange

Dan Forest

North Carolina Lieutenant Governor (Democrat Party)

Bill Toole

Terry Van Duyn

Yvonne Lewis Holley

Chaz Beasley

Allen Thomas

Ron Newton

North Carolina Lieutenant Governor (Republican Party)

Mark Robinson

Deborah Cochran

Andy Wells

Greg Gebhardt

Renee Ellmers

Scott Stone

Buddy Bengel

John L. Ritter

Mark Johnson

North Carolina Attorney General (Democrat Party)

Josh Stein

North Carolina Attorney General (Republican Party)

Jim O’Neill

Sam Hayes

Christine Mumma

North Carolina Auditor (Democrat Party)

Beth A. Wood

Luis A. Toledo

North Carolina Auditor (Republican Party)

Anthony Wayne (Tony) Street

Tim Hoegemeyer

North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture (Democrat Party)

Donovan Alexander Watson

Jenna Wadsworth

Walter Smith

North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture (Republican Party)

Steve Troxler

North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance (Democrat Party)

Wayne Goodwin

North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance (Republican Party)

Mike Causey 

Ronald Pierce

North Carolina Commissioner of Labor (Democrat Party)

Jessica Holmes

North Carolina Commissioner of Labor (Republican Party)

Pearl Burris Floyd

Josh Dobson

Chuck Stanley

North Carolina Secretary of State (Democrat Party)

Elaine Marshall

North Carolina Secretary of State (Republican Party)

Chad Brown

E.C. Sykes

Michael LaPaglia

North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction (Democrat Party)

James Barrett

Constance (Lav) Johnson

Jen Mangrum

Michael Maher

Keith Sutton

North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction (Republican Party)

Craig Horn

Catherine Truitt

North Carolina Treasurer (Democrat Party)

Matt Leatherman

Ronnie Chatterji

Dimple Ajmera

North Carolina Treasurer (Republican Party)

Dale R. Folwell

NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Seat 01 (Democrat Party)

Cheri Beasley 

NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Seat 01 (Republican Party)

Paul Newby

NC Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 02 (Democrat Party)

Lucy Inman

NC Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 02 (Republican Party)

Phil Berger Jr.

NC Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 04 (Democrat Party)

Mark Davis

NC Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 04 (Republican Party)

Tamara Barringer 

NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 04 (Democrat Party)

Tricia Shields

NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 04 (Republican Party)

April C. Wood

NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 05 (Democrat Party)

Lora Christine Cubbage

NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 05 (Republican Party)

Fred Gore

NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 06 (Democrat Party)

Gray Styers 

NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 06 (Republican Party)

Chris Dillon

NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 07 (Democrat Party)

Reuben F. Young

NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 07 (Republican Party)

Jeff Carpenter

NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 13 (Democrat Party)

Chris Brook

NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 13 (Republican Party)

Jefferson G. Griffin

NC State Senate District 45 (Democrat Party)

Jeanne Supin

NC State Senate District 45 (Republican Party)

Deanna Ballard

NC House of Representatives District 93 (Democrat Party)

Ray Russell

NC House of Representatives District 93 (Republican Party)

Ray Pickett

NC District Court Judge District 24 Seat 02 (Republican Party)

Rebecca Eggers-Gryder

NC District Court Judge District 24 Seat 03 (Republican Party)

Hal G. Harrison

NC District Court Judge District 24 Seat 04 (Republican Party)

Ted McEntire

Watauga County Board of Commissioners District 1 (Democrat Party)

Carrington Pertalion

Watauga County Board of Commissioners District 1 (Republican Party)

Todd S. Castle

Watauga County Board of Commissioners District 2 (Democrat Party)

John Welch

Watauga County Board of Commissioners District 5 (Democrat Party)

Charlie Wallin

Watauga County Board of Commissioners District 5 (Republican Party)

Bart Keller

Watauga County Register of Deeds (Republican Party)

Amy Jones Shook

Watauga County Board of Education

Ronald (Ronny) Holste

Jason K. Cornett

Marshall Ashcraft

Steve Combs