Wednesday, October 14, 2026
By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice on September 14, 2026
Unofficially, the General Election season kicks into high gear once the calendar moves past Labor Day weekend, and that should literally become more obvious this week.
As the Dare County Board of Elections schedule notes, Tuesday, Sept. 15 marks the first day when campaign signs can be posted. That is one month before the start of the Early Voting period, which runs from Oct. 15-31. The Voter Registration Deadline is Oct. 9 and Election Day is Nov. 3. Among other election information, you can view key dates, sample ballots and a detailed candidate list here. Dare County Board of Elections | Dare County, NC
The top of the ballot features the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Roy Cooper, Republican Michael Whatley, Libertarian candidate Shannon Bray and Green Party candidate Michael Dublin, as well as a contest for the District 1 seat in the U.S. Congress. That one features a rematch between incumbent Democrat Don Davis and Republican Laurie Buckhout, and includes Libertarian candidate Tom Bailey.
Other contested races on the Dare County ballot pit Republican Jerry Tillett against Democrat Melissa Zehner for the NC State Senate District 1 seat formerly held by Bobby Hanig. And voters in Colington, Duck, East Lake, Kitty Hawk, Manns Harbor, Southern Shores, and Stumpy Point will cast ballots in the contest for the NC House District 1 seat between incumbent Republican Ed Goodwin and Democrat Miriam Rollin. (For other voters in the county, there is an uncontested race for the District 79 NC House seat)
Republican Robert Trivette and Democrat Eula Reid are running for a District 1 Superior Court judgeship, and Democrat Jenny Wells and Republican Kyle Jones are competing for the unexpired term in the District 1 District Court seat.
Many of the races on the Dare County ballot are uncontested. District Attorney Jeff Cruden, Superior Court Clerk Dean Tolson, Register of Deeds Cheryl House and Sheriff Rodney Rawls are all Republicans who do not have a General Election opponent.
The only contested race for the Dare County Board of Commissioners features Democrat Aida Havel challenging incumbent Republican Ervin Bateman for the At-Large seat. Republicans David Twiddy and incumbent Rob Ross are running unopposed for the District 1 and District 2 seats, respectively.
On the Dare County Board of Education, there is a race for the open District 1 seat between Republican Stephen Nichols and Democrat Kelleta Govan. In District 2, Republican incumbent Ron Payne is running unopposed. And in District 3, the only name on the ballot for that open seat is Republican Rich Shope. But after falling just short in her effort to run as an Unaffiliated candidate for that seat, Mary Robinson is running a write-in campaign.
There are several referendum questions on the ballot as well, and the one attracting the most attention asks voters to decide on whether to implement a one-quarter percent (which is one-quarter cent) increase in the local sales tax.
(During the election season, the Voice will send out questionnaires to the candidates and report on their responses.)
