ELIZABETHTOWN — More than 28 weeks after Election Day, Bladen County may finally have its District 3 commissioner.
Russell Priest, the Democrat who appeared to win Nov. 6, was not certified as the winner by the state Board of Elections as a messy ballot harvesting scheme was uncovered in the Ninth Congressional District. Instead of beating Republican Wayne Edge at the time with 52.6 percent of the vote, 2,393 to 2,160, the two were put on the ballot again for a special election held May 14.
Priest prevailed again, but this time 676-672. Edge requested a recount.
The county Board of Elections canvass is Friday morning at 11, and the recount is at 1 p.m.
The other county race in the special election was for two supervisor seats to the Bladen County Soil & Water Conservation District board. Earl Storms and Charles Wendell Gillespie, as they did in November, were the winners in a three-way contest with Tim Gause.
Unofficially, Storms had 1,144 votes and Gillespie 1,096. Tim Gause had 957 and write-ins numbered 55. In the Nov. 6 totals, Storms had 6,689 votes, Gillespie 5,026 and Gause 4,459.
In the District 9 race, State Sen. Dan Bishop won the Republican primary for the U.S. House, advancing to the Sept. 10 general election opposite Democrat Dan McCready of Charlotte, the Green Party’s Allen Smith of Charlotte, and the Libertarian Party’s Jeff Scott of Charlotte.
The final numbers from Bladen County in the House race were Bishop 474, Rushing 370, Stevie Rivenbark Hull 81, Leigh Brown 65, Ridenhour 29, Kathie C. Day 13, Gary Dunn 7, Fran Shubert 6, Dr. Albert Lee Wiley Jr. 3 and Chris Anglin 2.
The decision to hold a special election culminuated three months after Election Day, at an evidentiary hearing centered on absentee ballots in Bladen and Robeson counties. The Rev. Mark Harris — who appeared to defeat McCready by 905 votes — was on the stand in the fourth day telling state board members he too believed a new election was needed.
Harris cited medical issues in deciding not to run again.
At the center of the controversy has been Bladenboro’s McCrae Dowless, who has since been charged criminally. Prosecutors believe he ran a ballot harvesting scheme. Rebecca D. Thompson, Matthew Monroe Mathis, Tonia Marie Gordon and Caitlyn Croom are also charged.
Harris admitted hiring Dowless despite having just one meeting with him. Testimony revealed that his son warned him about Dowless for two years before the hire was made. Harris has not been charged.
There was no implication through the hearing, or any criminal charges since, of any candidates running in the Bladen County races.