By Jesse Wood
Nov. 5, 2014. On Wednesday morning, Watauga County Elections Director Jane Ann Hodges said that Cove Creek precinct was “double counted.”
With the correct unofficial, final election results now tabulated, a few things change.
Instead of incumbent Commissioner David Blust, a Republican, being the second-highest votegetter in the three races for seats on the Watauga County Board of Commissioners, incumbent Billy Kennedy, a Democrat, is now the second-highest votegetter in the commissioner races. This means that Kennedy earns a four-year term as opposed to a two-year term, and Blust will receive a second-year term. Republican Jimmy Hodges retained his status as the highest vote-getter in the commissioner races.
Initially, Jason Cornett, a conservative running for Watauga County Board of Education, was the top votegetter among the six candidates running for seats on the school board. Now, however, Jay Fenwick, a Democrat in the supposed non-partisan race, earns that nod. Incumbent Ron Henries, a conservative, is still the third highest votegetter in the school board race and will retain his seat on the education board.
While incumbent N.C. Rep. Jonathan Jordan, a Republican, was initially pleased that he finally took down Watauga County, the new figures with Cove Creek only being counted once show that Democrat Sue Counts actually one Watauga County by 83 votes with 50.25 percent. Jordan, however, was still elected with a strong showing in Ashe County by receiving just more than 59 percent of the vote from constituents in Ashe.
Below are the final, unofficial results after Cove Creek was counted only once:
Note that these are preliminary results from only Watauga County voters unless noted otherwise.
- All precincts – 17,156 Votes Cast at 37.5 percent voter turnout
- Red Denotes Winner
Board of Commissioners District 3
Karen Lerch (R) – 7871 – 47.9 percent
Billy Kennedy (D) – 8561 – 52.1 percent
BOC District 4
David Blust (R) – 8402 – 51.12 percent
Larry Turnbow (D) – 8034 – 48.88 percent
BOC District 5
Jimmy Hodges (R) – 8718 – 52.9 percent
Barbara Kinsey (D) – 7762 – 47.1 percent
Watauga Sheriff
Randy Townsend (R) – 7108 -42.65 percent
Len Hagaman (D) – 9557 – 57.35 percent
Watauga County Board of Education
Jason Cornett (conservative) – 6956 – 18.76 percent
Jay Fenwick (liberal)– 7028 – 18.96 percent
Ron Henries (conservative)– 6276 – 16.93 percent
Ronny Holste (liberal) – 5882 – 15.86 percent
Kurt D Michael (liberal) – 6007 – 16.20 percent
Adam L. Trivette (conservative) – 4707 – 12.7 percent
Blowing Rock Referendum
Water Systems Bonds: Yes – 507 – 79.34 percent
Sanitary Sewer Bonds – Yes -518 – 81.06%
Sidewalk Bonds- Yes – 472 – 73.52%
Park and Recs Bonds: Yes – 469 – 72.83%
NC Senate * Entire 45th District in N.C. Senate
Dan Soucek (R)– 33,087 – 60.21 percent
Jim Sponenberg (D) – 21,865 – 39.79 percent
NC House * Entire 93rd District in N.C. House
Jonathan Jordan (R) – 13,849 – 53.1 percent
Sue Counts (D)– 12,234 – 46.9 percent
US Senate *Entire State
Thom Tillis (R)– 1,412,865 – 48.87 percent
Kay Hagan (D)– 1,364,623 – 47.2 percent
Sean Haugh (L) – 108,154 – 3.74 percent
US House *Entire 5th Congressional District in NC
Virginia Foxx (R)– 138,481 – 61.03 percent
Josh Brannon (D)– 88,434 – 38.97 percent