What's happening in city races

Down the stretch ...

• Today is the last day to vote early before Tuesday’s runoffs and elections. The Board of Elections office on Craven Street is the place to go, and it is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• All of the Sun Journal’s election coverage, from candidate profiles to polling places, is compiled at newbernsj.com.

• Mayoral candidate Lee Bettis has teams working citywide today, and alderman candidate Johnnie Ray Kinsey will be leading his own door-to-door efforts in Ward 4.

• As of Friday night, the New Bern Board of Aldermen had scheduled a meeting for Tuesday at 7 p.m., the same day as the runoffs.

The last full week before New Bern’s runoffs was anything but quiet, as candidates and contributors defended themselves and others made last-minute pushes to get Tuesday’s numbers to go in their favor.

The momentum started early in the week, when 4th Ward candidate Johnnie Ray Kinsey called an afternoon press conference to defend his character and service.

Kinsey spoke for less than 15 minutes Monday, but that was time enough for him to say that he believed the challenges of the campaign season had led some people to forget about his good side. He wanted to tell people that the robbery and shooting that he served time for in the past was just that: his past. He didn’t speak specifically about the crimes, but said he isn’t a teenager anymore and that he is sorry for what happened.

He didn’t speak specifically about the school system not having records of his volunteerism, either. But he did talk about working with “Sentenced to Read,” a program for juvenile offenders.

He said that he just wants to move forward.

By Tuesday, developer Patrick McCullough was defending his family’s $16,000 contribution to mayoral candidate Lee Bettis. McCullough said that his financial support for Bettis was born out of frustration about a “history of special deals” in Township 7 between New Bern and Havelock.

Alderman candidate Joan Bottcher said this week that she is concerned about any high-dollar contributions to campaigns.

“When … it is a lot of money, and it makes me worry for the city,” she said. She pledged to be the city’s “watchful eye” if she is elected in the 4th Ward.

On Wednesday, it was Bettis’ turn to defend himself — against charges in a fax sent anonymously to the Sun Journal. The fax detailed the candidate’s run-ins with the law, from alcohol-related incidents to speeding tickets from a decade ago. The most serious accusations on that list, one involving suspicion of drunken driving and the other involving an open container of alcohol in Jones County, were both dismissed. The other items, related to speeding and other traffic violations, were all that “desperate efforts” could dig up, he said.

Bettis said Friday that the fax had actually turned out to be a good thing for his campaign, and that his Web site hits were up at least 30 percent since he had defended himself.

Mayor Tom Bayliss said Friday that he doesn’t have any idea who sent the fax, and that he does not support the maneuver.

“I would not have recommended that it be sent,” he said. “I don’t want this to be decided on anything other than who is the better man, and I want to stay away from all the other crap.”

Early voting on par with last month’s

At the close of the polls Friday evening, more people had voted early in the mayoral runoff than had voted early when there were three mayoral candidates to choose from.

All told, 1,625 New Bern residents had voted in the mayoral contest by Friday — 22 more people than had voted by the close of early voting the first time around. Today is the last day to vote early in city runoffs. The Board of Elections on Craven Street is open until 1 p.m.

Nikie Mayo can be reached at 252-635-5665 or nmayo@freedomenc.com.