© 2026 254 North Front Street, Suite 300, Wilmington, NC 28401 | 910.343.1640
News Classical 91.3 Wilmington 92.7 Wilmington 96.7 Southport
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Classical 92.7 FM will be down for maintenance sometime today. You can still stream 92.7 FM on our website or any smart device.

Primary 2026: Pender County Board of Education and Board of Commissioners candidate questionnaires

WHQR
Published February 12, 2026 at 12:45 PM EST
Election Day voting site in downtown Wilmington.
Benjamin Schachtman
/
WHQR
Election Day voting site in downtown Wilmington.

There are six primary races for Pender County's school board and board of commissioners. WHQR, WECT, and Port City Daily sent questionnaires to each primary election candidate to see where they stand on issues impacting the county and the schools.

Primary Election Day is scheduled for March 3, 2026, and several Pender County districts will have races on the ballot. This includes Republican primaries for both the school board and the county commissioners.

Pender County has five districts for both the school board and county commissioners: four commissioner seats are up, in all but District 5 (which includes Burgaw and the northeastern part of the county). All four commissioner races have Republican primaries. In districts 1 and 2, the primary winner will face a Democrat in the general (Tim Zizack in D1, Brookey Hardee in D2). In districts 3 and 4, the winner of the Republican primary will also be the presumptive winner in the general.

Three school board seats are up for election, and two — districts 1 and 2 — have Republican primaries. There are no Democratic candidates for the school board in this year’s primary or general election, according to Pender County's Board of Elections.

To find out where the candidates stand, the media consortium of WECT-TV, Port City Daily, and WHQR Public Media has solicited responses from the candidates on issues facing Pender County and its schools.

The media group sent the same questionnaire to each candidate on Tuesday, Jan. 20, and requested their responses by Monday, Feb. 9. The Q&As have only been edited for clarity and are published below.

But before reading, here are a few items to keep in mind ahead of the primary election: All registered Democratic candidates can only vote a Democratic ballot, and all Republicans can only vote a Republican ballot. Meanwhile, unaffiliated voters can choose either a Republican or a Democratic ballot to vote.

  • A valid ID is required to cast ballot in North Carolina. If you do not have an ID you will have fill out a photo ID exemption form. 
  • Primary Election Day is March 3, 2026, with voters required to go to their assigned precinct locations. 
  • Early voting opens Feb. 12 and closes Feb. 28.

  • Early voting locations:

    • Pender County NC Cooperative Extension Auditorium, 801 S. Walker St. Burgaw
    • Pender County Annex Building, 15060 US Highway 17, Hampstead

  • Hours:

    • Monday–Friday: 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
    • Saturdays (February 21 & 28): 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
  • Anyone who wants to see if they’re registered to vote can do so here 

Click the names below to access the Q&As for all candidates who responded:

Board of Commissioners

District 1 (Northern coastal region, Topsail Beach, and Surf City):

District 2 (Southern coastal region and Hampstead):

District 3 (Southern central region and Rocky Point):

  • Andy Jessie DeVane
  • David Fallin

District 4 (Western region):

Board of Education

District 1:

District 2
Local