After three months of wrangling over who would be North Carolina's Secretary of Agriculture for the next four years, a winner has emerged. The new Secretary will be Republican Steve Troxler, who narrowly defeated Britt Cobb in November's General Election.

The outcome was decided when Cobb conceded the election to Troxler early Friday. Some members of Cobb's own party had called for him to give up his fight to retain the office.

Cobb's concession came just as the North Carolina Board of Elections was about to meet again in an attempt to come up with a solution to the stalemate that has left the outcome of the race in doubt for three months.

Cobb, who had been appointed to the post by Governor Mike Easley when former Secretary Meg Scott Phipps resigned, continued to serve as Secretary pending resolution of the election.

After a recount of votes following the election on November 2, Troxler led the race by 2,287 votes, approximately the same number he had led by when the initial results of the election were announced in early November.

However, the loss of 4,438 votes from Carteret County as a result of an electronic voting machine malfunction led to Cobb contesting the results of the election.

In an attempt to resolve the race, the State Board of Elections came up with two different proposals in the following 45 days. The first proposal by the Board of Elections would have permitted only those voters in Carteret County whose votes were lost to vote again. The second proposal was to hold another statewide election.

However, both proposals were struck down by judicial rulings.

After Cobb conceded, the Board of Elections certified Troxler the winner of the race.

Troxler, a 52-year-old farmer from Guilford County, will be the state's first Republican Secretary of Agriculture.

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