ELIZABETHTOWN — The 2022 primary election in Bladen County brought out just under 25% of the registered voters to decide a number of local races.

A total of 5,449 of the county’s 21,830 voters (24.96%) cast ballots, either through One-Stop early voting, absentee or on election day Tuesday. Nearly half of all ballots cast — 2,473 or 11.33% — were turned in prior to primary election day.

“Things went very smooth, as it was one of the best elections I have been in,” said Bladen County Board of Elections Director Chris Williams.

He added that votes took a little longer to be put into the system at the Board of Elections because a couple of poll workers forgot to bring in their USB sticks and had to go back to get them.

The low voter turnout was a bit of a surprise for Williams.

“As far as the 25% (turnout), I think that was a little lower than I expected,” he said. “I was expecting around 30 to35%, but overall it was a good election.”

Following is a look at the unofficial results from local races …

Bladen County sheriff

In the Democratic primary, former deputy Hakeem Brown easily defeated challenger Guy Childress by a margin of 2,388 to 306. Brown garnered 88.64% of the vote and will now move on to the general election.

Brown was also safely ahead after the early votes were tabulated, 1,376-106.

In the Republican primary, incumbent Sheriff Jim McVicker took 2.270 votes, or 87.54%, and defeated challenger Gary Edwards, who took 323 votes.

McVicker also won the early voting portion by an 810-118 margin.

McVicker, who is looking for his third term, will now face off against Brown in the November general election. The two squared off in 2018, when McVicker held on to his post by defeating Brown by 1,388 votes — 6,950 to 5,562.

County commissioner

Incumbent District 2 Commissioner Charles Ray Peterson earned his sixth term on the board after he easily defeated challenger Dawson Singletary by 444 votes in the Republican primary

Peterson, who has served as county chairman numerous times, garnered 827 votes, or 68.35%, while Singletary took 383 votes.

With no Democratic challenger, Peterson can bypass the general election and retain his seat on the board.

This was the second time Paterson and Singletary have faced each other for Peterson’s seat. In 2018, Peterson knocked off Singletary, who was on the ballot as a Democrat, in the general election by a 2,782 to 1,499 margin.

Board of Education

There were three county-wide seats up for grabs in the Democratic primary, and the incumbents — current Board Chair Vince Rozier and Corey Singletary — each won with 1,120 and 843 votes, respectively.

Also moving ahead will be Harfel Davis, who garnered 435 votes.

Rozier (778), Singletary (522) and Davis (108) were also clear choices during the early voting period.

In the Republican side for the county-wide seats, there was no primary, as incumbent Dennis Edwards and challenger Steve Kwiatkowski were unopposed and will move forward to the general election.

In the District 2 race, Mackie Singletary won the Republican primary with 657 votes, well ahead of Ben Lee with 288 and Berry Lewis with 259.

Mackie Singletary also won the early voting period with 276 votes, more than double that of Lee (103) and Lewis (71).

That win gives Mackie Singletary the Board of Education seat held by Roger Carroll, who chose not to run for re-election and no Democrat filed for the seat.

Clerk of Court

In the Republican primary, Cristin Hursey defeated challenger Jason Britt by 271 votes. Hursey took 1,401 votes, or 55.29%, while Britt took 1,133.

Hursey also won the early vote totals by a 521-388 margin.

Hursey will now take on Democrat Althea Dixon Weaver, who had no primary opponent, in the No. 8 general election.

The winner will replace long-time Clerk Niki Dennis, who chose to retire.

Races of interest

— Ted Budd easily won the race for U.S. Senate in the Republican primary over former gov. Pat McCrory by a margin of 1,673 to 590 in Bladen County.

Budd also took the overall vote, 445,280 to 186,729 over McCrory.

Budd will now move on to the general election in November to face Democrat Cheri Beasley, who easily outdistanced the field in the Democrat primary. Beasley won the Bladen County vote over James Carr, 2,248 to 97, as well as the overall vote by a 497,378 to 21,668 over Carr.

— Charles Evans won the Bladen County vote for the U.S. House District 7 seat by a 1,446 to 704 margin over Charles Graham in the Democratic primary. However, Graham defeated Evans in the overall voting, 12,947 (31.27%) to 12,189 (29.39%).

In the Republican primary, incumbent David Rouzer took 89.18% of the Bladen County vote to easily outdistance challenger Max Southworth-Beckwith, 2,234 to 271. In the overall voting, Rouzer was the clear choice with 79.21% of the vote — 38,945 to 10,220 over Southworth-Beckwith.

According to the Bladen County Board of Elections, the votes will be canvased on Friday, May 27, at 11 a.m.

W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-862-4163 or cvincent@bladenjournal.com.