The most decisive victories of the night went to statehouse elected officials. Republican State Rep. Charlie Miller handily won his race against Democrat Jill Brown to represent the 19th District, covering much of the southern half of Brunswick County. So did Republican Rep. Frank Iler, who defeated Democrat Charles Jones for the northern half of the county in District 17.
But unlike Miller, who saw no less than 59% support in all precincts, Iler had to put up a fight. In fact, one precinct — SB 01, covering Bolivia — went blue. There, Jones won 60% of the vote.
Iler also struggled to win a majority in NB 05 (Navassa) and NB 06 (Brunswick Forest), which polled 52% Iler and 53% Iler, respectively.
Republican State Sen. Bill Rabon won about 60% of the vote in his race for District 8 (covering Columbus, Brunswick, and a chunk of New Hanover County) against political newcomer Katherine Randall, the Democratic challenger. Randall nabbed only 37% of the vote in Brunswick County, but came exceptionally close to victory in those same precincts: Brunswick Forest (49% Randall) and Navassa (also 49% Randall.)
These nail-biting numbers are nothing new for Bolivia, Navassa, or Brunswick Forest. Back in 2020, Navassa went blue for Tom Simmons, who at the time was challenging Iler for his seat. And when Eric Terashima went up against Iler in 2022, Bolivia went blue. Terashima also came extraordinarily close to winning Navassa and Brunswick Forest two years ago — that year, Iler only captured 51% of the vote in Brunswick Forest and 52% in Navassa. In other words, his victory in those precincts came down to a couple dozen voters.
Like the legislative campaigns, the races for Brunswick County's Board of Commissioners has also gotten more complicated as a result of a shifting electorate.
For months, constituents have been watching what both Brunswick County Democrats and Republicans have said was the most competitive local race in recent memory.
When the dust settled last night, all three seats went to the Republican incumbents: Pat Sykes, Frank Williams, and Mike Forte. But what's interesting about those races is not that the Republicans won, but how they almost lost.
Much like Iler's case, some precincts showed fairly close races. Take SB 03 (Mosquito 2, better known as St. James), where Miller captured 59% of the vote this year. In that same precinct — in the same year, on the same ballot — only 51% of voters also supported Forte. It's a similar story in SB 04 and 05, a.k.a. Southport 1 and 2: Forte only took 53% of voters in what historically has been a reliably Republican community.
Williams also had a rough go of it in those precincts. He took 52% of the vote in St. James, 53% in Southport 1 and 53% in Southport 2. Williams also barely nabbed a majority with 51% in Navassa and Brunswick Forest.
The strongest showing for an incumbent commissioner was for Sykes. She still only hit 53% in Southport 1 and 55% in Southport 2, but in other problem areas — like Navassa and Brunswick Forest — she had a much more comfortable lead over unaffiliated candidate Bob Fulton.
Brunswick County had one more surprise on election night. For the first time in 20 years, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate won the county. Attorney General Josh Stein captured 48% of the vote in Brunswick County.
Votes aren't finalized until the canvass on Friday, November 15 — which could shift vote totals. WHQR will continue to report on these results. To explore election night results in Brunswick County, visit ncsbe.gov.
