GOP picks three for November

By Ron Fitzwater
Good weather and not too many tourists gave Ashe County voters a perfect day to get out and cast ballots. Along with the much debated Land Transfer Tax referendum, Republicans needed to choose three candidates to take or hold county commissioner seats. However, fewer than 40 percent of registered county voters came to the polls. According to the county board of elections of the 19,889 registered voters only 7,665 cast votes, only 38.54 percent.

By 9 p.m. 100 percent of precincts had reported results to the Ashe County Board of Elections and the board called the primary.

The unofficial results reported give wins to incumbents Judy Porter Poe and Larry Rhodes and challenger Gerald Price.

Price could not be reached for comment prior to press time but Poe and Rhodes both expressed their gratitude for their wins.

"I am very honored to be chosen to run again by my party, and my goal remains the same; to improve the quality of life in the county, create jobs with benefits and get more technology training in our schools and work force while keeping the tax rate low," Poe said.

"I really appreciate the support of the county and I want to reiterate my one and only campaign promise which is I will continue to serve and work for everyone in Ashe County as I have so far," Rhodes said.

The three Republicans will now set their sights on the November general election and Democrat candidates Incumbent Marty Gambill and challengers Dale Baldwin and Dallas Shatley.

Another race with area interest was the primary battle between Republicans Dwight Shook and Jerry Butler to run against Senator Steve Goss for the NC State Senate 45th District seat. By 10:30 p.m. Tuesday Butler was declared the winner with 53.8 percent of the vote going to him. Vote tallies for the race were Butler 7,629 and Shook 6,551.