Bateman wins Dare Commissioner seat, Payne and Brauer take Dare Ed Board slots

By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice on November 8, 2022

Ervin Bateman, Ron Payne and Matt Brauer.

In an election when local Republicans were either uncontested or victorious, incumbent first-term Republican Ervin Bateman defeated Democratic challenger Heather Euler in the battle for the one contested seat on the Dare County Board of Commissioners.

At the same time, Republicans Ron Payne and Matt Brauer outpolled Unaffiliated candidates Jessica Fearns and Marie Russell, respectively, in their races for the two contested seats on the Dare County Board of Education.

With all 16 county precincts reporting, and nearly 18,000 eligible voters casting ballots, the unofficial results show Bateman garnering a substantial win for the At-Large seat on the board, defeating Euler by a 63-37% margin.

The two board of education races were a bit closer, with the two results virtually the same. In the District 2 race to succeed retiring incumbent Joe Tauber, Payne garnered 57% of the vote to 43% for Fearns. In the District 3 race to succeed retiring incumbent Margaret Lawler, Brauer defeated Russell by a 58% to 42% tally.

In a substantially tighter race for the Dare County Register of Deeds, incumbent Republican Cheryl House took 52% of the vote compared with 48% for Democrat Andrian (Sweet Pea) Tillett.

In the contest to represent District 3 in the U.S. Congress, with about 90% of the precincts in the district reporting, incumbent Republican Greg Murphy was defeating Democratic challenger Barbara Gaskins handily, capturing about two-thirds (67%) of the vote. In Dare County, with all the precincts reported, Murphy defeated Gaskins by about 20 points – 60% to 40%.

But in a reflection of the relative strength of the two parties here, many of the local races were decided well before the Nov. 8 Election Day because Republican candidates ran without any Democratic opposition.

Two Republican incumbent Dare County Commissioners, Jim Tobin (District 1) and Rob Ross (District 2) were unopposed on the ballot. One candidate for the Dare County Board of Education, Barry Wickre (District 1), was unchallenged in his bid to replace retiring Republican Frank Hester.

Norman Sanderson, an incumbent Republican ran without opposition for the reconfigured District 1 North Carolina State Senate seat. And the two N.C. House incumbents who will represent Dare County, Republicans Kenneth Kidwell (District 79) and Edward Goodwin (District 1) also drew no challengers in the general election. The new redistricting maps split Dare County into two NC House districts, a move that angered some local leaders.

Republican Jeff Cruden, who has been the District 1 Assistant District Attorney, will succeed his old boss Andrew Womble as District 1 District Attorney, without facing a November opponent. At the same time, Republican Dare County Sheriff Doug Doughtie and Clerk of Superior County Dean Tolson also ran uncontested.

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