Early voting for the primary election begins Thursday, April 28 with polling at the Macon County Community Building and the Highlands Civic Center.
The early voting sites will be open Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m., and on Saturday 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Early voting continues through Saturday, May 14 at 3 p.m. Primary election day will be Tuesday, May 17. The deadline to register to vote was April 22.
Election Specialist Judy Fritts said they had mailed 130 absentee requests.
May 10 is the deadline for civilians to submit an absentee ballot request. Civilian absentee ballots must be returned by May 17.
In primary elections, people must vote in the party election for which they are registered. Unaffiliated voters can choose to vote a Republican or Democratic ballot, but not both.
With the limited races on the Democrat ballot and interest in the sheriff’s race on the Republican ballot, Fritts said they saw a lot of people changing their party affiliation to unaffiliated for the primary.
Sample ballots for the primary are available on the Macon County Board of Elections website maconnc.org/board-of-elections.
Democratic ballot
Locally, those voting a Democratic ballot will see only the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives District 11 races on their ballots.
Register of Deeds Todd Raby, the Democratic incumbent, is running unopposed in the primary and no Republicans filed for that race.
Clerk of Court candidate Dinah Mashburn is also running unopposed on the Democrat ticket and will automatically advance to the November election where she will face the top Republican candidate. Incumbent Clerk of Court Vic Perry (D) is not running for reelection.
Democrats Ronnie Beale and Betty Cloer Wallace are running for the two seats available in the District 2 Board of County Commissioners race and will be on the November general election ballot along with the top two Republican vote getters for that district race.
Republican ballot
Republican voters will see a full ballot of races, including the Sheriff, Board of County Commissioners (Districts 1 and 2) and Clerk of Court races. Federal and state races on the Republican ballot will include U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives District 11, N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 5, N.C. Court of Appeals Judge District 9 and N.C. Court of Appeals Seat 11.
The run for the Sheriff’s Office began shortly after current Sheriff Robert Holland announced his retirement in June 2021. Holland has served as sheriff since 2002.
Five Republicans are running for the office, including three current Sheriff’s Office employees – Brent Holbrooks, Dereck Jones and Clay Bryson – along with Bob Cook and Chris Browning. The sheriff is elected to a four-year term. A candidate is required to get 30% of the vote. If that does not happen, the second highest vote getter can call for a runoff. The runoff would be held July 26.
In the Board of County Commissioners race, Republican incumbent Jim Tate, who also serves as chair, is not running for reelection, meaning there will be at least one new face on the board. The two Republicans running in District 1 are John Shearl and Don Willis. The winner of the primary will likely face Jerry Moore Jr. who is collecting signatures to be on the November ballot as an unaffiliated candidate.
Five Republicans are running for the two seats open in District 2 including incumbent Gary Shields, Gregg Jones, Richard Lightner, Danny Reitmeier and Danny Antoine. The top two vote getters in that race will advance to the November general election. Commissioners are elected to four-year terms.
Republicans Shawna Thun Lamb, Justin Stamey and Michael (Mike) Trammel are vying for the Clerk of Court seat.
State and District races
Karl Gillespie (R), representing District 120 of Macon, Graham, Clay and Cherokee counties, is running unopposed to retain his seat in the state House of Representatives. State Sen. Kevin Corbin (District 50) is running unopposed in the Republican primary and will face challenger Karen Burnette McCracken (D) of Almond in the November general election.
District Attorney Ashley Welch (R) is running unopposed for the 43rd Prosecutorial District.
District 30A Superior Court Judge William H. (Bill) Coward (R) and 30A District Court Judges Donna Forga (R), Kristina Lynn Earwood (R) and Roy Wijewickrama (D) are also running unopposed.
For more information about local elections, contact the Macon County Board of Elections at 828-349-2034 or visit the website at maconnc.org/board-of-elections.
Meet the Candidates
The Franklin Press will host a meet and greet with the county commissioner and clerk of court candidates on Wednesday, April 27 and the sheriff candidates on Thursday, April 28. Both events will be from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Macon County Public Library, located at 149 Siler Farm Road. Each candidate will be given three minutes to speak, followed by time to meet one-on-one.