Election filings for 2020 get underway

Published 12:10 am Thursday, January 2, 2020

: On Oct. 25, 2018, campaign workers greet early voters at the Clemmons Public Library. From left: Gracie Ellis, Alex Jackson, Georgiana Hicks, Zack Ashley, and Stewart Ellis.

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By Jim Buice
For the Clemmons Courier

’Tis the season for candidates to file for North Carolina’s 2020 elections, which include a number of local and statewide positions to be decided.

Actually, the deadline to file was the Friday before Christmas for the March 3 primary. Besides 2020 being a year for a presidential race, N.C. voters will decide outcomes for governor, a U.S. Senate seat, members of the U.S. House and numerous other seats. Plus, redrawing of the state’s congressional map has created other changes.

In the U.S. Senate race, Republican incumbent Thom Tillis has three challengers — Larry Holmquist, Sharon Hudson and Paul Wright — while five Democrats competing to unseat Tillis include Cal Cunningham, Trevor Fuller, Atul Goel, Erica Smith and Steve Swenson. Shannon Bray is the Libertarian candidate, and Kevin Hayes is the Constitution candidate.

Five Democrats and two Republications are vying for the U.S. House of Representatives 6^th District seat — with Bruce Davis, Rhonda Foxx, Ed Hanes Jr., Kathy Manning and Derwin Montgomery among the Democratic hopefuls, and Lee Haywood and Laura Pichardo competing on the Republican side.

Three Republicans and one democrat are vying for the restructured District 10 U.S. House of Representative seat, which includes the Lewisville and Clemmons areas. The Republican candidates are David Johnson of Statesville, Patrick McHenry of Gastonia and Ralf Walters of Winston-Salem. The Democratic candidate is David Parker of Mooresville.

For N.C. Senate District 31, incumbent Joyce Krawiec filed on the Republican side while Terri Legrand filed as a Democratic candidate. In District 32, Paul Lowe Jr. (Democrat) and Ven Challa (Republican) filed to run.

For N.C. House of Representatives in District 71, Kanika Brown and Evelyn Terry filed as Democratic candidates. In District 72, Amber Baker and Lashun Huntley are running on the Democratic side while Dan Lawlor filed on the Republican side.

In District 73, William Stinson filed on the Democratic side with Lee Zachary on the Republican side. In District 74, Dan Besse filed as a Democrat and Lewisville resident Jeff Zenger filed as a Republican.

And in District 75, there is competition on both sides with Gardenia Henley and Elisabeth Motsinger on the Democratic side, and Jacob Baum and Donny Lambeth on the Republican ticket.

Three Democratic candidates — Gull Riaz, Christopher Smith and Eric Weiss — filed for District B on the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners while four Republican candidates — Richard Linville, Terri Mrazek, David Plyler and Gloria Whisenhunt — are running on the other slate.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper received a last-minute filing challenge from Ernest Reeves, while Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and Holly Grange are competing on the Republican side. Steven DiFiore is a Libertarian candidate, and Al Pisano is a Constitution candidate.

With Forest not seeking re-election for lieutenant governor, six Democrats, nine Republicans have flooded the ballot along with single candidates from the Libertarian and Constitution parties.

Josh Stein filed as a Democratic candidate for N.C. Attorney General while Sam Hayes, Christine Mumma and Jim O’Neill are running on the Republican side.

Democratic incumbent Elaine Marshall filed for re-election for N.C. Secretary of State while three Republicans — Chad Brown, Michael LaPaglia and E.C. Sykes — filed on the Republican side.

Many other positions will be decided in 2020, including three of the seven seats on the state Supreme Court, including the chief justice’s position, numerous judgeships and all 170 General Assembly seats.