Election Results Are In:

Patsy Keever, Democratic winner for Congressional District 10. Photo: Urban News

Yes to Amendment 1 = No to marriage; Obama v. Romney

by Moe White

The results are in: Barack H. Obama won the NC Democratic primary for president of the United States and will face likely nominee Mitt Romney in November.

The other big story, of course, is the passage of the Amendment to North Carolina’s Constitution that will prohibit any town, official, or other government entity in the state from recognizing any domestic partnership other than heterosexual marriage.

The Amendment, introduced by Republicans, pushed by many conservative religious leaders, and opposed by the state NAACP, religious liberals, and other human rights and civil rights groups, will strip unmarried couples of all rights and benefits already granted by such cities as Asheville, Chapel Hill, and Durham – rights that allow an employee to add a partner or partner’s child to health insurance coverage, or that protect an unmarried woman from domestic abuse by her boyfriend.

According to some analyses, domestic protection orders that are based on personal relationships other than marriage (common-law marriage, living together, or even an established relationship as boyfriend-girlfriend), might no longer be enforceable; the state will now prohibit law enforcement officials from recognizing such relationships between those who are not married. As the vaguely worded, discriminatory law is implemented and interpreted by judges, we will slowly discern just how harsh it might turn out to be.

Primary Results Across The State

Now for news from the primary election. Salient races are for governor and lieutenant governor; for Buncombe County’s two House of Representatives districts; and the local contests that will determine who will control county government for the next two years.

Statewide, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton easily outpaced his five opponents to win 45% of the Democratic vote in the gubernatorial race, and Linda D. Coleman took 55% against Eric Mansfield in the Democratic primary to be his running mate. If the Democratic ticket wins, Ms. Coleman will be the first black Lieutenant Governor in the state’s history.

Dalton and Coleman will face former Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory, who took 83% of the Republican vote for governor; his running mate is yet to be determined, as none of the five candidates broke the 40% threshold needed to avoid a run-off.

Congress – Two Seats

In the races for Congress, Asheville and Buncombe County residents now are split between two districts. In the 11th, which centered on Asheville for generations before last year’s Republican-led redistricting, Heath Shuler’s former chief of staff, Hayden Rogers, defeated two fellow Democrats with 55% of the vote. No Republican broke 40%, making a run-off likely for that race, in which Mark Meadows had 38%, Vance Patterson 23%, and six other candidates less than 15% each.

The 10th Congressional District incorporated Asheville for the first time this year, and incumbent Republican Representative Patrick McHenry from Gaston County handily defeated his two primary opponents, gathering in nearly 75% of the vote. In the Democratic race, Patsy Keever, a former three-term Buncombe County commissioner and current State House member, won 58% of the vote over Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy, at 27%, and Tim Murhpy, with 15%.

Newly elected commissioner Brownie Newman (in blue).

Local Races

Closer to home, voters chose candidates in both parties to fill the newly expanded Buncombe County Commission, which will now include two commissioners each from three districts and the commission chair, elected at-large. David Gantt, the incumbent chairman, has won county-wide in all his previous campaigns for a seat on the commission and for the chairmanship. He beat challenger Milton Byrd 81%-19%, and will face Republican J. B. Howard in November.

In the first district, centered on Asheville proper, Democrats Holly Jones and Brownie Newman, with respectively, 43% and 33%, beat out Keith Young (11%), Tracy DeBruhl (7%), and Aixa Wilson (6%); they will face Republican Don Guge this fall.

Newly elected commissioner Holly Jones is all smiles. Photos: Urban News

The second district, which circles the east side of Asheville from Black Mountain to Fairview, saw incumbent Carol Weir Peterson and newcomer Ellen Frost defeat former assistant Register of Deeds JoAnn Morgan for the Democratic nod; their Republican opponents will be Mike Fryar and Christina Kelley G. Merrill.

On the other side of town, the third district ranges from Arden through Biltmore Forest up to Leicester and Alexander. There Democrats Michelle Pace Wood and Terry Van Duyn will challenge Republicans Joe Belcher and David King in November.

In the only other county-wide contest, incumbent Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger swamped two opponents with 55%; former Registry-office employee Marie Hall showed a respectable 34%, and Johnny House pulled 11% of the vote.