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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT
00000177-efb4-dee4-afff-efbec5b90000Click here for voting information on polling places, voter registration, and more. To meet the people who want to represent you, click on the “live” links below for feature pieces on contested races. New features are posted weekly and all reporting will be posted by March 1st. HQR News 91.3 FM...For complete Election 2020 News and Coverage. Results Primary 2020 Results: Ted Davis, Jr. Wins In District 20 House ContestPrimary 2020 Results: Race For New Hanover County Commissioners Down To Three From Each PartyPrimary 2020 Results: The Race For NC House District 19Two Incumbents Out, One Remains in 2020 Brunswick County PrimariesChristopher Ward Wins 7th Congressional District Democratic Primary, Will Challenge Rouzer Coverage from CoastLine: CoastLine: Primary 2020 Results Bring November into FocusCoastLine: Primary 2020 Preview - Races, Issues, Candidates with PCDWHQR Talks With Port City Daily's Ben Schachtman on Local Issues and Upcoming Primaries*Any inquries about 2020 Primary Election Coverage can be addressed to Rachel Keith at rkeith@whqr.org. Reporter Coverage: US House District 7 - DRobert Colon Mark JudsonChristopher M. Ward NC House District 19 - R Charlie MillerDavid A. Perry NC House District 19 - D James Dawkins, Jr. Marcia MorganNC House District 20 - R Ted Davis, Jr. Justin LaNasaNHC Commissioner - D Jonathan Barfield, Jr. Don Betz Leslie CohenKyle HortonSteve Miller Travis Robinson NHC Commissioner - R Deb Hays Joe IrreraHarry KnightJohn Lyon Frank Christopher MearesRicky Meeks Matt Rhodes Bill Rivenbark Skip Watkins NHC Board of Education - RJanice CavenaughFrederick Fisher Stephanie KraybillPete Wildeboer BC Commissioner District 3 -R Pat Sykes Jeff WinecoffBC Board of Education District 2 - R Catherine D. Cooke David M. Robinson BC Board of Education District 4 - RShirley C. Babson Steven Barger Ellen G. Milligan

Black Community Leaders Urge Reluctant Voter To Hold On To Hope

Tuesday March 3rd is Primary Election Day in North Carolina, and polls are open until 7:30 this evening.  As I traveled around between Brunswick and New Hanover County polling locations, I spoke with voters about the issues that drove them to vote.  At most stops, I saw people electioneering – that is campaigning for their candidates.  But not at Williston Middle School.

The first person I meet at Williston, a precinct that is solidly Democratic and mostly made up of African American voters, is the white husband of a Democratic candidate for county commissioner.   He's the only person electioneering in sight.

I stop a voter as he emerges from Williston.  He doesn’t want me to identify him.  And, yes, he voted.  But he doesn’t feel good about it. 

"But I will vote.  I’ll vote.  I have voted.  I’m just sharing with you some of the disparities that I see and it feels hopeless."

Hollis Briggs and Deborah Dicks Maxwell, two community leaders, join us. 

Hollis Briggs:  "We’ve convinced a lot of people to vote.  Matter of a fact there's a guy named [xxx].  He's never voted a day in his life until just the last election and he felt good about voting.  But somebody had to entice him to vote.  We had to explain the system to him and how the system works in order for him to have confidence to go vote.  

But my reluctant voter, let’s call him Joe, says he’s 61 years old, and in his lifetime, he’s never seen an American President do anything for the black community. He’s trying now to be part of the solution.

"But it’s difficult."

What’s his part of the solution?

"…Being involved in community affairs and trying to help the youth who are definitely feeling hopeless and hopelessness.

Deborah Dicks Maxwell of the NAACP, though, is traveling from precinct to precinct today. 

"I will have hope.  I will have hope that the people will use their collective voice and vote to make change...  Don't give up.  Don't give up hope."

Rachel hosts and produces CoastLine, an award-winning hourlong conversation featuring artists, humanitarians, scholars, and innovators in North Carolina. The show airs Wednesdays at noon and Sundays at 4 pm on 91.3 FM WHQR Public Media. It's also available as a podcast; just search CoastLine WHQR. You can reach her at rachellh@whqr.org.