If Alamance County’s Republicans had largely monopolized the early filing season – during the two days in December before filing was suspended by the N.C. Supreme Court pending a resolution of contested congressional districts – the county’s Democrats have come out in force since the filing period reopened last Thursday.
While those congressional districts, subsequently redrawn by the Republican-controlled General Assembly, are still being contested, the N.C. Supreme Court has okayed the state senate and state house districts.
Mebane city councilman Sean Ewing has filed to run against Amy Scott Galey for a seat in the state senate that Galey now holds. Galey filed for reelection in December.
Ewing is a Democrat serving on the non-partisan Mebane city council; he is also second vice president of the Alamance County Democratic Party. Galey is a Republican who won the seat in 2020 after previously serving as chairman of the Alamance County board of commissioners.
The new state senate district 25, which has been approved by the N.C. Supreme Court, is now comprised of Alamance County and the northeast portion of Randolph County.
When Galey was elected in 2020, it was to the 24th district, which was then comprised of Alamance and eastern Guilford counties, which is where her opponent, J.D. Wooten, lived. Galey beat Wooten 52.43% to 47.57%.
In Alamance County’s two state house districts, Republicans will have a primary on May 17 to determine which of two candidates for district 63 will face incumbent Democrat Ricky Hurtado, who filed for reelection during the past week. Former Republican tate representative Steve Ross, who was defeated by Hurtado in 2020, is seeking a re-match; meanwhile, Mebane resident Ed Priola is also seeking the GOP nomination to challenge Hurtado.
Ross, who had represented the 63rd district for six years (3 terms) since he was first elected in 2014 was defeated in 2020 by Democrat Ricky Hurtado. Hurtado prevailed by 477 votes, 20,584 (50.59%) to 20,107 (49.41%) for Ross.
County commissioner race
Meanwhile, in the county commissioner race, the first Democrat, Anthony Pierce, has filed for one of two seats on the Alamance County board of commissioners.
Pierce was a candidate in 2020, as well, but did not make it past the March primary, when Democrats chose three other candidates to carry their banner: Kristen Powers, Bob Byrd, and Dreama Caldwell. All three were defeated by their Republican opponents in November.
Pierce, now 43, was the fourth-place finisher in the March primary that year among five candidates in the Democratic primary.
The current board of county commissioners appointed Pierce to the county’s planning board last year.
Republicans filing thus far are: incumbents Steve Carter, first elected in 2018, and Craig Turner, who was appointed last year to finish Galey’s term following her election to the state senate in 2020; Robert Turner; and Rudy Cartassi.
The Republicans will face off in a May 17 primary election to cut the field to the top two who will face off with the top two Democrats in November.
District court judge
In the only 2022 race for district court judge, Bradley Reid Allen, Sr., who is the most senior among the four current district court judges and serves as the county’s chief district court judge, has filed for reelection.
Uncontested (so far) partisan races
In addition to Allen, who is currently unopposed, several incumbent Republican office-holders are also facing no opposition, either in a primary or from the other party.
Running unopposed, thus far, are: sheriff Terry Johnson; district attorney Sean Boone, who was first elected in 2018; clerk of superior court Meredith Tuck Edwards, also first elected in 2018; and state representative Dennis Riddell, who represents district 64 which is comprised largely of the western and southern parts of Alamance County.
Non-partisan school board entries increase
Since filing reopened last Thursday, more candidates are lining up for ABSS school board. Three seats are on the ballot for November.
The face thus far includes five candidates and a sixth who says he will file today: Chuck Marsh, who filed during the earlier filing period in December; former state representative and county commissioner Dan Ingle; newcomer Charles Parker of Mebane; Seneca Rogers, an unsuccessful candidate from 2020; and Leonard Harrison, 3161 Fieldstone Lane, Mebane, who filed Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile, Avery Wagoner of Burlington plans to file today (see separate story in this edition.)
Rogers was the fifth-place finisher (among 11 candidates) in the school board race in 2020 when four seats were on the ballot.
None of the three incumbent school board members – Wayne Beam, Allison Gant, or Tony Rose – has indicated whether they will seek reelection. None of the three had responded to an inquiry from the newspaper made with each over one week ago.
Filing for all partisan and non-partisan races, which reopened last Thursday, will close tomorrow at noon.
