Two NC legislators lose primaries – and close races loom in November

Find all the North Carolina election results as they come in.

Two state lawmakers will not return to the North Carolina General Assembly next year after Tuesday’s primary.

Sen. Eddie Gallimore, R-Davidson, and Rep. Elmer Floyd, D-Cumberland, lost their seats to their opponents during the primary.

Republican Rep. Steve Jarvis, R-Davidson, defeated Gallimore for N.C. Senate District 29 with 53% of the vote. Jarvis will face Democrat Duskin Lassiter in the general election.

Floyd was defeated by Kimberly Hardy, who took 54% of the vote for N.C. House District 43. Hardy, a school social worker, will face Diane Wheatley, who won the Republican nomination with 56% of the votes.

Floyd has served in the House since he was first elected in 2008, and he’s one of the more moderate House Democrats. He faced criticism for voting for House Bill 2, which regulated transgender bathroom use, and for the Republican budget proposal last year. He easily defeated primary challengers in the past, but this year he was running in a redrawn district.

Gallimore, who owns a construction company, is a first-term senator who’d previously run for the office several times unsuccessfully.

Setting up November battles

Tuesday’s primary set the final match-ups for competitive legislative districts that will be hotly contested in November’s general election.

Former Sen. Allen Wellons, a lawyer and farmer from Smithfield, took the Democratic nomination for N.C. Senate District 11 (Johnston and Nash counties) with 61% of the vote. He will face Rep. Lisa Stone Barnes in the general.

Barnes won the Republican nomination with 69% of the votes. She faced Johnston County Commissioner Patrick Harris and Dennis Nielsen in the primary. Nielsen faced calls to drop out after being charged with domestic violence.

Sarah Crawford, a nonprofit leader, received the Democratic nomination for N.C. Senate District 18 with about three-quarters of the votes. She ran against Angela Bridgman, who was one of two transgender candidates for legislator. Crawford will face Republican attorney Larry Norman.

Kim Coley, a minister and small business owner, won the Republican nomination for Wake County’s N.C. House District 36 with 56% of the votes. She ran against Gil Pagan, who received 43% of the votes. Coley will face incumbent Democratic Rep. Julie von Haefen and Libertarian Bruce Basson in the general election.

Erin Pare took the Republican nomination for southern Wake’s House District 37 with 59% of the votes against Jeff Moore and Anna Powell. Pare, a small business owner and nonprofit director, will face Democratic incumbent Sydney Batch and Libertarian Liam Leaver.

Marcia Morgan, a retired Army colonel, received the Democratic nomination for N.C. House District 19, formerly held by Rep. Holly Grange, R-New Hanover, who unsuccessfully ran for governor.

In the general election Morgan will face Republican Charlie Miller, a chief sheriff’s deputy and school board member in Brunswick County..

Aimy Steele, an educator, received the Democratic nomination for N.C. House District 82.

Steele will face Republican Kristin Baker, a psychiatrist. The winner will fill the seat of Rep. Linda Johnson, R-Cabarrus, who died of cancer last month.

Former lawmakers win

Most — but not all — of the former legislators seeking to return to the General Assembly won their primaries.

In the western end of the state, former Rep. Mike Clampitt, R-Swain, will get a fifth chance to face off against Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood. Clampitt has won only once — in 2016 — but lost his seat to Queen in 2018. He had a big lead over Jackson County Commissioner Ron Mau in the primary.

Former Rep. Tim Moffitt easily beat perennial candidate Dennis Justice. Moffitt served in the House representing Buncombe County from 2011 to 2015 before losing his seat to a Democrat. He has since moved and wants to fill the Henderson County seat vacated by retiring Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson.

Wellons, Jarvis, and former Rep. Sam Watford, R-Davidson, also won their primaries. Former Rep. Roger Younts, R-Davidson, fell short to Watford, and former Rep. Mark Hollo, R-Catawba, fell short in his bid for an open Senate seat. Other former legislators running this year did not have contested primaries.

Incumbents who survived

Among the incumbent legislators who beat out their challengers:

▪ Despite a strong challenge from former Cabarrus County Commissioner Jay White, Rep. Larry Pittman, R-Cabarrus, received the Republican nomination to retain N.C. House 83 seat with 61% of the vote. He will face Democrat Gail Young in the general election.

▪ Rep. Howard Hunter, D-Hertford, won the Democratic nomination to retain the N.C. House District 5 seat with 67% of the vote. He will face off against Republican Donald Kirkland in the general election.

▪ Rep. George Cleveland, R-Onslow, won the Republican nomination to retain the N.C. House District 14 seat with 68% of the vote. He will face Democrat Mary Wofford in the general election.

▪ Rep. Phil Shepard won the Republican nomination to retain the N.C. House 15 seat with 72% of the votes against his opponent, Onslow County Commissioner Mark Price. He will face Democrat Carolyn Gomaa in the general election.

▪ Rep. Ted Davis Jr., R-New Hanover, received the Republican nomination for N.C. House District 20 with 77% of the vote. He faced Justin LaNasa, who faced criticism for an internet video in which his female employees wrestled in a bowl of grits. He will face Democrat Adam Ericson in the general election.

▪ Rep. Michael Wray, D-Northampton, received the Democratic nomination for N.C. House 27 with 56% of the votes.

▪ Rep. Jamie Boles, R-Moore, took the Republican nomination Tuesday for N.C. House District 52 with 60% of the votes. He won against Southern Pines Police Chief Bob Temme, who took 41% of the vote. Boles will face Lowell Simon, a Democrat, in the general election .

▪ Rep. Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg, received the Democratic nomination to retain N.C. House 102 seat with 64% of the vote. Carney will face Republican Kyle Kirby in the general election.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Kyle Kirby’s party affiliation has been corrected. (Updated: 2:15 p.m., March 9, 2020.)

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This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 11:29 PM.