Republican voters will get a second chance to pick their party’s nominees for North Carolina Lieutenant Governor and State Auditor in runoff primaries set for May 14.
In the race for Lieutenant Governor, Republican Hal Weatherman was the top vote getter in the March 5 Republican primary with 19.59 percent of the tally statewide. Jim O’Neill was next at 15.84 percent, with nine other contenders trailing.
Since none of the 11 candidates topped 30 percent, state law allowed the runner-up to request the runoff. Democrat Rachel Hunt, who easily won her primary, is awaiting the winner.
It was a similar story in the Republican race for Auditor, where Jack Clark topped the six-person field with 23.24 percent of the vote. Again, since nobody reached 30 percent plus one vote, runner-up Dave Boliek (22.10 percent) was able to request the runoff.
Buncombe County’s results were similar to the statewide results in both the Lieutenant Governor and state Auditor contests.
After the official canvassing of the March 5 primary votes, the Buncombe County Board of Elections explained voter eligibility for the second primary on May 14.
All registered Republicans are eligible to take part in the runoff. Unaffiliated voters who voted Republican Party ballots in the primary, or those who did not vote in the primary, are eligible to vote in the runoff. Voters registered to other parties are not eligible.
In-person early voting is April 25 through 3 p.m. on May 11. The absentee ballot request deadline is 5 p.m. on May 7, and the return deadline is 7:30 p.m. on May 14.