Ocracoke Goes Against the Tide
217 Ocracoke residents (72%) voted for Kay Hagan in the 2014 midterms. Only 67 islanders voted for Thom Tillis, while 16 went for Libertarian candidate Sean Hough. One lone wolf wrote in a name for the U.S. Senate seat. County-wide, Hagan won 886 – 793 (Hough got 97 votes, and another precinct had one write-in for a total of two completely pointless statements.)
Ocracoke and Hyde County's support was not enough to carry Hagan to a statewide victory. In a very close race, Tillis eked out a win.
Ocracoke also showed our Dolphin blue streak in the U.S. House of Representatives race. Although Republican Walter B. Jones won handily with 68% of the vote in District 3, his competitor, Democrat Marshall Adame, did pretty well on Ocracoke, considering. 154 Ocracoke votes for Jones, 135 for Adame. That's a mere 53% in Jones's favor, almost a close race. In the entirety of Hyde County, Jones took 69% of the vote.
Incumbent Paul Tine should be feeling popular tonight. Ocracoke voted for him 269 times for N.C. House of Representatives, compared to challenger Mattie Lawson's 33 votes. That's a solid B for Paul at 89%. Hyde County gave him 64% of the vote overall, and helped him secure the win.
Interesting to note is that 302 Ocracokers cast votes in the Tine/Lawson race, but just 301 people chose between Hagan/Tillis/Hough. Who's the one outlier who didn't vote for their choice for U.S. Senator?
In total, Hyde County residents cast 1,824 ballots (which includes early and absentee voting) out of a possible 3,490. Do the math! That means that 1,666 people just didn't show up. Sigh. There are no words.
Just kidding! I have lots of words! Isn't it pitiful that with a 52.26% voter turnout in Hyde County, and lower scores around the state, NC set a record for midterm elections with 43.79% of the electorate making the effort? How can 43% be considered a high score!?! What's wrong with people? I mean, huzzah to Hyde County for the better score than the rest of NC, but 52% ain't really that great.
Anyway, in other races…. Seth Edwards beat out his total lack of competition on the ballot and is still District Attorney. Barry Swindell, Dick Tunnell, Benjamin Simmons III, Brandy C. Pugh, and Merita Lewis Spencer had similar luck as the only names in their races, and will keep/take their positions in Hyde County government.
Guire Cahoon is our new Hyde County Sheriff. Ronnie O'Neal, Bill Caswell, and Flavia Burton will serve on our Ocracoke Sanitary Board.
In judicial races, Ocracoke voted for Mark Martin, Sam J. Ervin IV, Robin Hudson, and Mark Davis along with the rest of the county and state. Ocracoke opposed the Hyde County mainlanders when we supported Cheri Beasley, Lucy Inman, and John S. Arrowood. Beasley and Inman won at the state level. Arrowood came in second, so I guess Ocracoke's not completely out of step with off-islanders, even if we do use a different currency and have border patrol.*
Want to see the election results for yourself? Click here.
*That bit was just to see if you're still paying attention. We take American money on Ocracoke. The border patrol is done by Homeland Security.
