Richardson and Roten are commissioners

About 74 percent of the county's voters turned out to cast ballots in the election, with a total turnout of 5,442 as Democrats won several key races in the county, state and nation in unofficial totals. All election results are considered unofficial until canvassed by county and state boards of elections.

The county has 7,274 voters registered, with some 2,190 of them casting ballots on Election Day, while 3,216 voters cast ballots in early voting (One Stop and absentee by mail).

The county had 714 straight party votes for the Democrat party and 710 for the Republican Party.

In local races, political newcomer Democrat Steve Roten captured a seat on the Alleghany County Commission by garnering 2,755 votes, while incumbent Democrat Chair Ken Richardson held on to his seat, capturing 2,383 votes. Republican Chuck Billings posted a strong challenge, capturing 2,223 votes, while Republican William "Bill" Caudill took 1,424 votes and unafilliated candidate Gleason James took 827 votes.

Steve Roten said, "I appreciate everyone's support and the confidence they put in me. I'll try to earn that trust. I look forward to serving the community as a county commissioner."

Richardson said, "I am extremely excited about the results and the opportunity to do great things for Alleghany County. I feel with my experience, I'm in a position to help Alleghany County with all the challenges that we have ahead of us. I look forward to working with our new board.... The election is over and now the work must begin; there are many goals that we will strive to accomplish. I hope to continue to be positive and optimistic about our future."

Billings commented, "I want to congratulate Steve and Ken and I'd like thank the many people who supported me, as well as the board of elections and all others who contributed at the polls. It seems we had a great turnout countywide. Good luck to all and God bless."

Caudill said, "I appreciate all who supported and hopefully everything will go fine for the commissioners. I appreciate everybody's support and look forward to serving them on the planning board."

James noted, "I'd like to thank them for going out and trying to make a change. I wish we could have done better, but that's politics. It seems the parties have pretty well stayed together. I appreciate everyone's support and hopefully we'll do better next time. We did a little better than we did before. We had tremendous turnout for the national election." In the Alleghany Board of Education race, incumbent Democrat Faron Atwood held on to his seat with 2,997 votes, while Republican newcomer Steven Williams took 2,849 votes to take the second seat. Williams edged out Democrat Brad Mabe by just 25 votes (Mabe had 2,824).

Atwood said, "It was a close race. The voters had three good guys to choose from. I think all three had the best interest of the school system and the kids in mind when they decided to run. I appreciate the voters showing confidence in me." Williams stated, "I'd like to thank everybody for their votes and I appreciate all the support." Mabe also thanked the voters for their support.

In the Register of Deeds race, incumbent Democrat Lizabeth Reeves Roupe easily retained her office with 3,580 votes, while unafilliated challenger Doris W. Tolliver took 1,328 votes.

Roupe said Tuesday night, "Many, many thanks to all the voters that had faith in me and supported me in this election. I won't let you down."

Meanwhile, Tolliver said, "I want to thank everybody who came out and supported me and worked and helped with the campaign. I want to congratulate Lizabeth on her win. I just appreciate everyone getting out and voting."

In the Alleghany Soil and Water District Supervisor election, incumbent Bobby P. Evans held his seat with 2,212 votes, edging out a strong challenge by newcomer Randy L. Edwards, who had 2,031 votes.

Evans said, "I'd like to say thank you to everyone. I'll try to do my best in the position they elected me for." Edwards noted, "I would like to thank everyone for their support and their vote."

In regional action, incumbent Democrat Jim Harrell won 2,873 votes in Alleghany to 2,299 for Republican Sarah Stevens. However, Harrell apparently lost his seat to Stevens by a margin of about 1 percent, 13,191 to 12,904 according to district-wide results.

In the 5th District U.S. Congressional Race, Republican incumbent Virginia Foxx beat out a challenge by Democrat challenger Roy Carter. Foxx also won in Alleghany voting, taking 3,019 votes to Carter's 2,264. In the presidential election, Republican John McCain won Alleghany County over Democrat Barack Obama, 3,117 to 2,017. Libertarian Bob Barr had 79 votes. However, the race was a dead heat as of presstime Tuesday night in statewide. Obama appeared to have the victory nationwide based on early election results from the Associated Press.

In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole conceded defeat to Democrat challenger Kay Hagan statewide. In Alleghany, Dole edged Hagan 2,576 votes to 2,455. Libertarian Christopher Cole took 241 votes.

In the race for North Carolina Governor, Democrat Bev Perdue held a slight edge over Republican Pat McCrory statewide as of presstime with 90 of 100 precincts reporting. In Alleghany, Perdue took 2,600 votes to 2,458 votes for McCrory. In the 23rd Judicial District Court race, Jeanie Reavis Houston took 2,013 votes in Alleghany to 2,212 for Robert "Bert" Greene Jr.

Other Races

The following are unofficial Alleghany vote totals by race. Final statewide results were not available as of presstime Tuesday night.

In the race for lieutenant governor, Walter H. Dalton received 2,374 votes, Robert Pittenger got 2,530 votes and Phillip Rhodes received 204 votes.

In the race for attorney general, Roy Cooper received 2,954 votes, while Bob Crumley got 2,159 votes.

In the race for auditor, Beth A. Wood received 2,589 votes , while Leslie Merritt captured 2,311 votes.

In the race for commissioner of agriculture, Ronnie Ansley got 1,965 votes and Steve Troxler received 3,064.

In the race of commissioner of insurance, Wayne Goodwin received 2,324 votes, John Odom got 2,383 votes, Mark McMains received 234 votes.

In the race for commissioner of labor, Mary Fant Donnan received 2,200 votes to Cherie Berry's 2,655 votes.

In the race for secretary of state, Elaine F. Marshall received 2,743 votes and Jack Sawyer got 2,213 votes.

In the race for superintendent of public instruction, June St. Clair Atkinson received 2,361 votes to Richard Morgan's 2,505.

In the race for N.C. treasurer, Janet Cowell received 2,501, while Bill Daughtridge received 2,403. Don East (unopposed) received 3,457 votes.

For superior court, Robert H. "Bob" Edmunds Jr. took 2,231 votes to 1,952 for Suzanne Reynolds.

In the court of appeals, John C. Martin (unopposed) took 3,385 votes.

In another court of appeals seat race, Sam J. Ervin IV took 2,731 votes to 1,451 for Kristin Ruth.

In a third court of appeals race, Cheri Beasley took 2,229 votes to 1,751 votes for Doug McCullough.

In a fourth court of appeals race, Dan Barrett took 1,792 votes to 2,252 for Linda Stephens.

In a fifth court of appeals race, Robert N. "Bob" Hunter Jr. took 2,411 votes to 1,526 for John S. Arrowood.

 

Get the whole story - read this week's edition of The Alleghany News!