ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County Democrats showed their true blue colors on Saturday morning at the party’s annual county convention.

Outgoing party chair Wes Johnson, who has served Bladen Democrats for four years, officially turned his duties over to Charles Corbett. Other new officers include Bobby Roberts, first vice chairman; Althea Lesane, second vice chairman; Paul Johnson, third vice chairman; Kim White, secretary; and Sue Hester, treasurer.

Johnson addressed the group, expressing his pride in the party’s accomplishments in both the recent elections and in the growth of the number of registered voters in Bladen County.

“Although our country is facing unsure times, the Democratic Party is taking action to rebuild the core of our economy and to replace skepticism with faith, both for the small business owner as well as investors on Wall Street,” Johnson said.

He went on to compliment the party members on the hard work they put into getting President Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan into office, along with keeping U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre and N.C. House member William Brisson in their seats.

Johnson added that, in the last election cycle, the number of registered Democrats in Bladen County grew by 874.

“We have nearly 22,000 registered voters in Bladen County now, which is an increase from when I first started here in 1993, when there was about 14,000,” Bladen County Elections Director Larry Hammond said.

Part of that increase, he said, can be attributed to voters’ trust in the system.

“Voter registration tends to not be enhanced when voters don’t have faith in the system,” Hammond said. “That shows us they have trust in what we do with the electoral process.”

The number of registered voters is high per capita in Bladen County, he added, putting the county in good standing with the state and with the individual parties.

“All parties involved in the county have pretty good numbers in registration, which is good for the voters,” Hammond said. “That shows us they trust what we’re doing.”

Several others took the floor to speak to the group as well. Among those were Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser; District Court Judges Napoleon Barefoot, Bill Fairley and Scott Ussery; District Attorney Rex Gore; and N.C. Rep. William Brisson. Several county officials also spoke, including Sheriff Steve Bunn; Register of Deeds Charity Lewis; Coroner Hubert Kinlaw; Bladen County Commissioners David Gooden, Margaret Lewis-Moore, W.D. Neill, Delilah Blanks, Daniel Dowless and Lewis Tatum; and Board of Education member Ophelia Munn-Goins.