Fifth seat too close to call in Oriental

ORIENTAL — For the second time in two years, the final Oriental commissioners seat could be decided by a draw from a hat.

Amid a successful political debut by newcomer Jennifer Gillikin Roe, a single vote separates fifth-place contenders Warren Johnson and Harvey Hardison in the unofficial election results from Tuesday.

A lone provisional vote, which will be opened during the election canvas Tuesday morning, could decide the final tally between newcomer Hardison and former board member Johnson. Hardison has a 189-188 lead going into the Tuesday 11 a.m. canvass at the Pamlico County Elections office at the county courthouse.

Since the provisional voter had five choices, if Hardison and Johnson each get a vote, nothing changes. If Hardison gets a vote and Johnson does not, there will be a tie.

“If they tie, we’ll be pulling the winner out of the hat, again,” said Lisa Bennett, the Pamlico County elections supervisor.

She was referring to 2007, when Candy Bohmert won on a draw over Barb Venturi.

Bohmert and Venturi both won election outright this time, along with incumbent Sherrill Styron, a former mayor of 18 years.

Incumbent Mayor Bill Sage was unopposed and topped the voting with 379.

One Stop voting had an impact. For instance, when Election Day results were announced at the Southeast Pamlico Fire Department shortly after the polls closed, Johnson was seventh in the running. He made up ground with 54 early votes.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the defeat of incumbent David Cox, who finished seventh, eight votes behind Hardison.

Roe, who was active in the recently released town long range vision project alongside Venturi, led the way with 300 votes. Styron had 298 votes.

“I’m excited and I know it is a big challenge not to let the citizens down,” Roe said afterward. “The first order of business I would like to see the board do is to see the long range vision implemented, so that it can be utilized. It came from a lot of work by a lot of people. It is the citizens’ vision for the town, because the results came from surveys of the citizens.”

Styron said he was shocked at the apparent defeat by Cox.

“I’m naturally pleased to win, but I am surprised and disappointed at David losing. I voted for him and I think he has done a lot of good things for the town,” Styron said. “He and I didn’t always agree, but he was a hard worker on the board.”

Hardison also pointed at the long range vision plan as a first order of business for the new board. He stressed that not all the actions be long range.

“Work toward the ones that are affordable and can be done in a shorter time,” he said. “Work on some things that are achievable in the near future with available town funds.”

Oriental had the only officially contested town race, but in Minnesott Beach, the announced write-in campaign by incumbent Dave Stewart unofficially returned him to the board. He had 100 unofficial write-in votes, bumping former mayor Ray Lee, who had 29 votes.

Unofficial write-in candidates who also won board seats are Harry Brooks in Alliance, Theron Jones in Mesic and Jim Sherwood in Vandemere. Each of those towns lacked a full slate of candidates.

The county elections board will meet Monday to approve the write-ins, although the names of leaders are expected to be posted on the county elections Web site today.

Charlie Hall can be reached at 252-635-5667 or chall@freedomenc.com.

♦ ♦ ♦

Oriental mayor 

Bill Sage 350

Write-ins 29

♦ ♦ ♦

Oriental commissioner (top five seated)

Jennifer Gillikin Roe 300

E. Sherrill Styron 299

Candy Bohmert 247

Barb Venturi 196

Warren Johnson 189

Harvey Hardison 188

David Cox 176

Bob Cowden 167

Dan Siren 30

Write-ins 15