Just one vote separates contenders for 2nd school board seat
Brad Hoxit
Robbinsville – Retired state trooper Brad Hoxit easily defeated former sheriff Russell Moody for Graham County Sheriff in Tuesday’s general election, getting just over two-thirds of votes cast in the race.
Incumbent Graham County School Board member Chip Carringer came in first in his race, with 2,364 votes, or 36.27 percent of the vote. One vote separates Democrat Maria Shook and Republican Hank Dinschel (1,432 votes to 1,431 votes, respectively), leaving the second of two seats in limbo until provisional ballots are counted and whether a recount is sought.
For Graham County commissioner, incumbent Jacob Nelms was the top vote-getter with 2,180 votes, with incumbent Lynn Cody coming in third for the three seats on the board with 1,957 votes. Newcomer Natasha Williams, who unseated incumbent Dale Wiggins in the primary, received the second highest vote total, with 2,094 votes.
Hoxit, an unaffiliated candidate, will take office in December, replacing Sheriff Jerry Crisp, who lost in the Republican primary to Moody. Crisp endorsed Hoxit following the primary.
John David Lovin and Gerald Phillips won the two seats for Graham County Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor.
All other local races in Graham County were uncontested, returning incumbents Tammy Holloway and Register of Deeds Kimberly Lequire.
Local voters also picked Republicans Ted Budd for U.S. Senate, Chuck Edwards for U.S. House of Representatives District 11, Richard Dietz for N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 3, Trey Allen for N.C. Supreme Court Associated Justice Seat 5, Julee Tate Flood for N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Seat 8, Donna Stroud for N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Seat 9, John Tyson for N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Seat 10, and Michael Stading for N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Seat 11.
Incumbent Republican state Sen. Kevin Corbin beat Democrat and Graham County resident Karen McCracken for the District 50 seat.
Graham County was one of the first counties in the state to report final election results.
Voter turnout was 60.09 percent in Graham County, a high turnout for a midterm election.
According to the Graham County Board of Elections, of the county’s 6,078 registered voters, 2,916 are Republicans, 1,412 are Democrats and 1,726 are unaffiliated. There are also 24 Libertarians.
Votes came in on Tuesday evening from the county’s four precincts – East Ward at the Graham County Courthouse, West Ward at Graham County Community Center, Stecoah Precinct at Stecoah Community Center, and Tapoco Precinct at Santeetlah Community Center.