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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

Brunswick County Boards Remain Republican

Top row: Board of Commissioners winners Mike Forte, Frank Williams; middle: Board of Education member Catherine Cooke

Board of Commissioners

Brunswick County’s Board of Commissioners had three out of five seats in play.  The county is made up of five districts, and all county residents vote for all districts. 

Brunswick County is majority Republican.  With unaffiliated voters making up the second largest voting bloc, any Democratic candidate has a steep mountain to climb.  And last night’s vote kept Brunswick County Commissioners reliably – and 100% Republican. 

Republican incumbents Pat Sykes and Frank Williams kept their seats in Districts 3 and 5.  And in District 4, where Republican incumbent Scott Phillips did not run again, former Boiling Spring Lakes City Commissioner Mike Forte handily beat his Democratic opponent, Brenda Faye McMillian, by nearly 30 percentage points. 

Board of Education

In the race for Brunswick County Board of Education, the Republicans maintained their control.  Catherine Cooke was re-elected to represent District 2, beating out Democratic challenger Sharon Woodard Crawford.  Ed Lemon was unchallenged in his run for the seat in District 1.  In the primary, Ellen Milligan edged out long-time board member Shirley Babson to run for District 4’s seat.  She beat Democrat Marty Mentzer by over a quarter of the vote. 

School Bond

The $152 million school bond question passed by about 34 percentage points – or nearly 22,800 votes. 

Canvassing

The votes will be canvassed on Friday, November 18th.

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.