ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County will have a new representative in the U.S. House of Representatives next term, as Republican incumbent Robert Pittenger was narrowly ousted in Tuesday’s primary.
The Republican District 9 primary saw Pittenger pitted against Eastover’s Clarence Goins and Charlotte’s Mark Harris. Harris walked away the victor overall in the district, having garnered 49 percent of the votes to Pittenger’s 46 percent. Goins received 5 percent, or 1,862 votes.
In Bladen County, voters chose Harris by a wider margin. Pittenger received 571 votes, or 28 percent, compared to Harris’ 1,423 votes, or 69 percent. Goins garnered 60 votes, or 3 percent, in Bladen County.
On the Democratic ticket for the District 9 U.S. House seat, Charlotte’s Dan McCready swept fellow Charlotte resident Christian Cano by nearly 30,000 votes statewide. McCready was given the nod by 37,823 voters, while 7,837 North Carolina residents opted for Cano.
In the Mother County, 86 percent of Democratic voters elected for McCready, in turn giving Cano 14 percent of the vote.
Election Day: Harris (R) v. McCready (D) v. Jeff Scott (L)
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U.S. House of Representatives District 7
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Democrats elected for Carolina Beach resident Kyle Horton nearly 2:1 Tuesday over Goldsboro’s Grayson Parker. Horton received 21,403 votes statewide, to Parker’s 10,542.
In Bladen County, Horton was given the nod as well, with 760 voters — 75 percent — choosing him over the 248 voters that opted for Parker.
Election Day: Horton (D) v. incumbent David Rouzer (R)
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N.C. State Senate District 8
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Kelly Libertarian Randy Crow received 100 percent of the two votes cast on the Libertarian ticket, beating out Shallotte’s Anthony Mascolo, who garnered no votes.
Mascolo will be the one on November’s ticket, however, as he received 58 percent of the votes statewide to Crow’s 41 percent. Only 91 people voted Libertarian in the primary in District 8.
Election Day: Mascolo (L) v. David Sink (D) v. incumbent Bill Rabon (R)
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N.C. House of Representatives District 22
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White Lake’s Martin Denning will be advancing in his bid to represent District 22 in the N.C. House. He narrowly beat Clinton resident Lawrence Aycock, who was the candidate of choice for 42 percent — or 2,189 people — in District 22. Martin received 2,851 votes in the district.
Probably no surprise, Denning also took his own county, receiving more than two-thirds of the votes. Democrats chose the White Lake resident 1,946 times, giving him 68 percent of the votes, to Aycock’s 910 votes, or 32 percent.
Election Day: Denning (D) v. incumbent William Brisson (R)
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The turnout
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A meager 26 percent of Bladen County voters turned out for the primary this year. Of the 22,883 voters in the Mother County, only 5,858 cast ballots on Tuesday.
Chrysta Carroll can be reached by calling 910-862-4163 or emailing ccarroll@bladenjournal.com.