Motivated primarily by sheriff’s race, some Dare Democrats change registration

By Maggie Miles | Outer Banks Voice on February 14, 2026

By Maggie Miles | Outer Banks Voice

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Two days before the Feb. 6 registration deadline, Natalie Jewett-Dutt went online and changed her party affiliation from Democrat to unaffiliated.

She is one of 168 Democrats in Dare County who have changed their registration to unaffiliated since May, 2025, according to Dare County Board of Elections data. Another 52 Democrats have switched their affiliation to Republican.

“I switched to unaffiliated as a pretty strong Democrat so I’d have a voice in the upcoming election,” said Jewett-Dutt.

There are 6,318 registered Democrats, 11,411 Republicans and 14,530 unaffiliated voters in the county. And those numbers may understate the Republicans’ dominance at the polls. All seven members of the Dare County Board of Commissioners are Republicans, as are all seven members of the Dare County Board of Education.

In the 2026 election cycle, there are three Republicans and no Democrats running for the District 1 seat on the Board of Commissioners, and the two candidates for the District 2 seat are Republicans. And while four Republicans are competing to succeed retiring Doug Doughtie in the closely watched Dare County Sheriff race, no Democrat entered the race.

The deadline to switch party affiliation for the 2026 elections has already passed, and while residents can register to vote and make some changes to their registration during the Early Voting period that began on Feb. 12, they cannot change party affiliation then.

Jewell-Dutt, and others interviewed by the Voice say their decision to change registration is largely due to the crowded Republican primary for Sheriff. The four candidates are Senior Nags Head Police Officer Jimmy Pierce, Kill Devil Hills Police Sgt. Rodney Rawls, Chief Deputy Dare County Sheriff Jeff Deringer and Teddy Daniels, a former law enforcement officer who has unsuccessfully run for lieutenant governor and congressman in Pennsylvania. The Democrats who switched said that a central reason was to help elect someone other than Daniels.

Randy Cartwright of Nags Head said he changed registration several decades ago once Republicans became the dominant party in Eastern North Carolina and the state changed the rules to allow unaffiliated voters to pick their primary.

“Without the ability to vote in the Republican primary, in a county like ours where the Republican Party is dominant and its nominee will almost certainly win the election, a choice does not exist for the unaffiliated voter,” he said.

The issue of who votes in Republican primaries surfaced recently after the organizer of a non-partisan Feb. 20 sheriff’s forum in Avon posted that information on the Avon Democratic Precinct Facebook page. While Rawls, Pierce and Deringer indicated they will attend, Daniels said he won’t take part.

In a post on his Facebook page, Daniels stated that “The left should not be involved in Republican primaries. This is a REPUBLICAN primary for Sheriff. I will not pander to the extreme left… Most unaffiliated voters don’t want to be associated with the far left.”

Biff Jennings, a Colington Democrat who switched to unaffiliated, said he’s never been a party guy and has voted for Democrats and Republicans. “Especially in local elections where I know people to be competent and good-hearted people, I don’t care what party they’re in, I’ll just go ahead and vote for them,” he said, adding that he thinks Rawls, Derringer, and Pierce are competent, compassionate candidates with different skill sets who would be a fit for the job.

“We desperately need someone in that [sheriff] position who is willing to work compassionately and rationally with all the residents of and visitors to our county,” said Cyndi Goetcheus Sarfan, one of the founders of the local Indivisible chapter, where many discussions with people switching from Democrat to Unaffiliated have occurred. “These are very frightening times for many people who encounter law enforcement for whatever reason, so this race feels very important at this particular point in our history and in this highly charged political environment.”

She added that Dare County is a place that puts a lot of emphasis on candidates who are from here, although the meaning of “local” is subject to considerable debate.

Jewett-Dutt said that although she plans on voting in the sheriff’s race, her registration change was more about the chance to make her voice heard. “I guess ultimately, I changed to Unaffiliated so I could be less ‘locked in’ and have more flexibility when it came to voting,” she said.

Gretchen Montague, of Manteo, who recently switched her affiliation from Democrat to unaffiliated, cited the importance of the sheriff’s contest.

“I shifted from Democrat to unaffiliated because, in this critical sheriff’s race, no Democrat was running. I also actively encouraged others to change their affiliation so they could participate,” said Montague, who characterizes Daniels as a “MAGA-aligned candidate…who doesn’t truly know or represent our small-town values.”

Bob Muller, Director of Get Out the Vote for Dare County Democrats, has not changed his party affiliation. But he is supportive of those who did.

“There have been a lot of sort of radical candidates at state level who didn’t generate this kind of switching, but when it gets this close to home, and particularly with the interface between immigration enforcement and local law enforcement, I think that’s an element of it that really has made people understand that the sheriff’s office is going to be really important should DHS decide to come into Dare County with any kind of a concerted effort,” he said.

Addressing the issue of switching registration, Jennings said Republicans “tend to form their coalitions very tightly and hold their beliefs very firmly, and more power to them for that. But the fact that I’m a Democrat should not leave me out of making a choice for sheriff of Dare County.”