Incumbents keep their seats for Caldwell County Board of Commissioners, Board of Education
CALDWELL COUNTY — Polls closed Tuesday evening and all 15 Caldwell County precincts have reported unofficial results to the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE). As of 10 p.m. on Nov. 5, 43,467 ballots have been cast countywide, totaling 78.24% of the county's registered voters. Here are the current results for the Caldwell County Board of Commissioners and Caldwell County Board of Elections races.
Board of Commissioners
Republicans Patrick Starnes, Jeffrey Branch and Randy Church all ran unopposed for the 3 available Commissioner seats. Church, current chairman of the board, and Branch were both incumbents, while Starnes will be serving on the board for the first time.
Starnes received 29,437 votes, with 34.79% of the total.
"First of all, I need to give all the glory for the good lord above," Starnes said. "I want to thank my wife, April, my two daughters Savannah and Lindsay, and my family for standing by my side. I want to thank all my friends and family for helping through the election, all the voters for having the confidence in me to get the job done, and if it wouldn't be for the voters for getting me in, none of this would even be possible. I want everybody to know that the reason I ran was not to be seen, not to be put on a pedestal, but to help the people of Caldwell County. I run a business in Caldwell County ... and I want to pay it forward to the people in the county."
Branch received 28,293 votes, with 33.44% of the total.
"I appreciate the vote of the people of Caldwell County," Branch said, "and that they have enough confidence in me to represent them again. I appreciate their support. I'm not going to change tomorrow, I'll be the same person I was yesterday. Thanks to everybody for their vote. I just hope that we can keep everybody's taxes low and make this an affordable place for people to live in Caldwell County."
Church received 26,884 votes, with 31.77% of the vote.
Church said he was "very pleased with the voter turnout, and I appreciate all the votes that I received from Caldwell County. I intend to do the very best for our residents, as I always have. I am looking forward to the next four years."
Board of Education
For the school board, four candidates ran for three open seats, with incumbents Ann Edwards, Darrell Pennell and Chris Becker being challenged by libertarian Michael Barrick. All three incumbents — all Republicans — were able to retain their seats and leave Barrick's challenge unsuccessful.
Edwards received 29,641 votes, or 32.6%.
Edwards said, "I'm very humbled, and I'm very grateful. I have just seen the results myself and I'm so appreciative of the voters who have placed their confidence in me. I would like to say that this gives me the opportunity to give back to our community and service to our board of education means so much to me. I believe in educating our citizenry and it is our duty to provide for our students. I think it's the best way to strengthen our economy, to provide an educated student."
Pennell received 27,016 votes, or 29.71%.
"I am thankful for all your support shown throughout this election," Pennell said. "I will continue to advocate for the best education system and opportunities for all students in Caldwell County. Your confidence in me is greatly appreciated and valued, and I will keep placing education and all Caldwell County School employees as a top priority. It will be an honor to serve another 4 years on the Caldwell County Board of Education with such dedicated and hardworking board members."
Becker received 26,592 votes, or 29.25%
Becker said, "I'd just like to thank the constituents for believing in me to continue for another four years, it gives me a chance to get around to, maybe, some of the things we haven't been able to do yet and to continue the good work for the people of Caldwell County. I thought the turnout was great. Historically, turnout during presidential elections is higher, and that was certainly the case this time. I appreciate the turnout from all the people who came out to vote."
Barrick received 7,669 votes, or 8.44%
"I will say, first of all, that I had fun," Barrick said. "I met many kind people all campaign. I want to thank all those people who have voted, and those who have worked the polls at the Board of Elections. Finally, despite not winning, I've learned a great deal about myself, and I wish those board members elected success in serving our children."
This story will be updated to reflect additional information and comments from other candidates.
