Most incumbents win; Pendleton, Avila lose in NC House races

District 26

Republican Donna McDowell White appeared to defeat her Democratic challenger in District 26, unofficial results showed.

White held 57 percent of the vote to Rich Nixon’s 43 percent with more than half the precincts reporting.

The northern Johnston County seat has been held by longtime Rep. Leo Daughtry, who did not seek a 14th term.

District 28

Republican Larry Strickland appeared to be cruising to victory in the race for District 28’s seat, unofficial totals showed.

Strickland carried 69 percent of the vote to Patricia Oliver’s 31. The southern Johnston County seat has been held by Rep. James H. Langdon, who did not seek a seventh term.

District 30

Democrats held a commanding lead and appeared poised to win the race to replace Rep. Paul Luebke in District 30, unofficial results showed.

Luebke died in October at age 70, but still appeared on the ballot with nearly 74 percent of the vote to Republican challenger Elissa Fuchs’ 26 percent. Durham County Democrats selected Philip Lehman, who lives in District 30, from a list of five names suggested by the party’s executive committee. Lehman has served as assistant attorney general.

District 34

Rep. Grier Martin cruised to an easy victory in the race for the District 34 seat.

Martin, a Democrat, took 68 percent of the vote to 32 percent for Republican challenger Bill Morris

Martin is a Raleigh attorney who won his first election in 2004. Redistricting put him in a district occupied by Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross until he was appointed to a seat in 2013 after Ross resigned.

Morris worked at the General Assembly for two years as a member of the sergeant-at-arms staff.

District 35

Rep. Chris Malone won an easy re-election in District 35, unofficial results showed.

With all precincts reporting, he took 53 percent of the vote over Democratic opponent Terence Everitt, who had 47 percent.

Malone, the incumbent, has previously served for three years on the Wake County Board of Education and four years on the Wake Forest Town Board of Commissioners. The race gained extra notice in October when Malone, a Republican, sent out a mailer calling for the repeal of House Bill 2. Everitt, an attorney and first-time office-seeker in the northeastern Wake district, has served on the board of directors for the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce.

District 36

Rep. Nelson Dollar won re-election in a close contest in District 36.

With all precincts reporting, Dollar carried 49 percent of the vote to Democratic challenger Jennifer Ferrell’s 47 percent. Dollar, a Republican, has represented the western Wake district for six terms. Ferrell is a development an community outreach manager with Public Schools First NC.

District 37

Republican Linda Hunt-Williams won the race for the seat in District 37, according to unofficial results.

With all precincts reporting, Williams captured 52 percent of the votes to Democrat Randy Barrow’s 43 percent. Libertarian Robert Rose came in a distant third. The seat has been held since 2001 by House Speaker Pro Tempore Paul “Skip” Stam, who did not seek re-election.

District 38

Rep. Yvonne Lewis Holley won re-election by large margin over her Libertarian challenger in District 38.

Holley held 85 percent of the vote to Olen Watson III’s 15 percent.

In the Southeast and East Raleigh district, incumbent Democrat Holley was challenged only by Watson, a former U.S. Marine who currently works in construction project management.

District 40

Democratic challenger Joe John unseated Rep. Marilyn Avila in the close District 40 race, according to unofficial results.

With all districts reporting, John carried 50.4 percent of the vote to Avila’s 49.6 percent.

Avila has held her seat in the Northern Wake district for five terms, serving as deputy majority leader and joint caucus chair, and she led Wake County Republicans prior to elected office. John had served as a judge in Guilford County and on the N.C. Court of Appeals.

District 41

Rep. Gale Adcock easily won another term in her District 41 seat, unofficial results showed.

With all precincts reporting, Adcock polled 57 percent to Republican challenger Chris Shoffner’s 43 percent.

The Western Wake district saw Adcock, a first-term House member and former Cary mayor pro-tem, face Shoffner, a political newcomer who once sat on a state health task force.

District 49

Democratic challenger Cynthia Ball unseated incumbent Rep. Gary Pendleton in the District 49 race, according to unofficial results.

With all precincts reporting, Ball carried 49 percent of the vote to Pendleton’s 47 percent. Pendleton, a Republican financial consultant and retired brigadier general, had held office in the Northern Wake district for 1 1/2 terms. His opponent Ball, a mediator, had served on Raleigh’s civil service commission. First-time candidate David Ulmer, a Libertarian, finished a distant third.

District 50

Rep. Graig Meyer appeared to win an easy re-election in District 50, unofficial results showed.

With all districts reporting, Meyer captured 57.2 percent of the vote to Rod Chaney’s 42.9 percent. Meyer, a consultant with The Equity Collaborative, was appointed to his Orange-Durham County seat in 2013 then elected a year later. His Republican opponent Chaney is a Chapel Hill pastor who ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2012 and 2014.

District 54

Rep. Robert Reives II cruised to re-election over his Republican challenger in District 54, unofficial results showed.

Reives had 57 percent of the tally to Wesley Seawell’s 43 percent. Reives, a defense attorney and former prosecutor, served as co-chair of the freshman caucus during his time in the House, representing the Chatham-Lee County district. His Republican challenger is a teacher and former U.S. Army intelligence officer who served in the Iraq War.

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 8:44 PM with the headline "Most incumbents win; Pendleton, Avila lose in NC House races."