Winners but losers
Candidates wooed Clay primary voters but lost state
By Harrison Keely MANAGING EDITOR
Clay County primary election results handed dramatic wins to several candidates who lost the state election May 6.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton claimed threefourths of the vote in Clay County but was beat statewide by rival Barack Obama who claimed 56 percent of the vote.

Republican candidate for governor Fred Smith clinched 42 percent of the vote in Clay County, followed by Bill Graham with 25 percent. Pat McCrory won the state election with 46 percent of the vote although he only got 11 percent of local votes.

Candidate Spence Campbell captured over 75 percent of the vote in Clay County for the U.S. Congress Republican District 11 office.State winner Carl Mumpower received less than 13 percent of votes locally but triumphed with nearly 50 percent of votes in the election.

In a close race between Republicans for Lieutenant Governor, Jim Snyder won 31.49 percent of votes against Robert Pittenger (30.91 percent). Statewide, the race wasn't as close. Pittenger won 59 percent of the votes and Snyder captured 19 percent.

Incumbent Court of Appeals judge James A. Wynn narrowly lost against Jewel Ann Farlow (42.23 percent to 41.44 percent) in Clay County but triumphed in the state with 48 percent of the vote.

Judie Hall, the director of the Clay County Board of Elections, said that voter turnout for this year's election was better than in previous years. Clay county's voter turnout averaged 29.76 percent however, notably lower than the statewide turnout of 36.14 percent.

Hall said that she was unaware that the county's turnout was comparatively low, but said that the low turnout was likely due to the absence of county officersup for election on the primary ballot. She said that the school board election in November will be the next time citizens can vote for county officials.

Peak turnout occurred in the Warne township, with 33.19 percent of registered voters showing at the polls. The county's poorest turnout was in Hayesville Central with 27.08 percent of registered voters casting ballots.

Hall noted that it was odd that the Hayesville Central precinct had a lower turnout given that it represents the county seat. She credited Warne's success to the precinct's one-stop and early voting initiatives.

"Early voting has a lot to do with the turnout, I think it's really convenient for people," Hall said.

Of the 8,196 registered voters in the county, 2,439 ballots were cast.

The Democratic U.S. Senate race saw candidate Kay Hagan win Clay County with twice as many votes as competitor Jim Neal. Hagan also won the state.

Democratic governor candidate Bev Perdue beat out Richard H. Moore in Clay County with 53 percent of votes compared to 35 percent.

Walter H. Dalton won the state race for lieutenant governor despite narrowly leading competitor Pat Smathers by 2.91 percent of the vote in Clay County.

Beth A. Wood won the state race for Democratic auditor and hooked 70 percent of votes in Clay County, beating Fred Aikens.

Democratic commissioner of insurance candidate Wayne Goodwin saw a good win statewide, though he ran a close race against David C. Smith locally.

In the Democratic races, Mary Fant Donnan won the state race for commissioner of labor, June St. Clair Atkinson won for the superintendent of public instruction and Janet Cowell won the race for treasurer.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain caught 81 percent of the vote in Clay County, followed by Mike Huckabee with 13 percent. In Cherokee County Huckabee snagged 17 percent of the vote.

Overall, 1591 citizens cast their Democratic presidential preference in Clay County while 829 voted for a Republican presidential contender.

Republican U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole won the vote in North Carolina and captured nearly 94 percent of the vote in Clay County, the highest percentage for one candidate.

Richard Morgan won the Republican race statewide for superintendent of public instruction while Sam J. Ervin, IV beat out John M. Tyson for the Court of Appeals judge position.

Contact Harrison at hkeely@smokymountainsentinel.com.
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