NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Two local elections won’t be officially decided until next week when remaining absentee and provisional ballots are counted by the New Hanover County Board of Elections.
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When New Hanover County precinct data was released just before midnight on Nov. 5, it showed slim margins in the New Hanover County commissioner and school board contests. Less than 6,000 votes separate the top candidate from the bottom in each race.
The current results, in which voters could choose three candidates, show the three new school board members to be Democrats Tim Merrick and Judy Justice, the latter returning to the board after losing her last election, and Republican David Perry. They’re followed by Democrat Jerry Jones in fourth and Republicans Nikki Bascome and Natosha Tew bringing up the rear.
Only 622 votes separate the last winner and first loser, though the county commissioner race is even tighter, with 249 ballots separating third and fourth place.
Preliminary results show commissioner winners as Bill Rivenbark and Dane Scalise, Republican incumbents, and Stephanie Walker, a Democrat transferring from the board of education. So far, Walker has narrowly pushed out Democratic incumbent Jonathan Barfield Jr., who has been commissioner since 2008. Newcomers John Hinnant, Republican, and Cassidy Santaguida, Democrat, occupy fourth and fifth places.
This could all change on Nov. 14, when the board of elections will meet to tally the remaining 1,500 absentee ballots and the 1,912 provisional ballots received during early voting and on Election Day.
The canvass — which is the formal certification of the votes — is scheduled for Nov. 15. If margins remain close, candidates will have until Nov. 18 at 5 p.m. to request a recount. State law affords a losing candidate the right to demand a recount of votes if the disparity between the prevailer’s turnout is no more than 1% of the total vote.
According to New Hanover County Elections Director Rae Hunter-Havens, the last poll in New Hanover County did not close until 9:30 p.m. and the closing process takes several hours to complete. The combined results from Election Day, Early Voting and absentee votes submitted by Nov. 1 were transmitted to the State Board of Elections at 11:49 p.m.; Hunter-Havens said there was no delay in the counting and upload process.
New Hanover County Democratic Party Chair Jill Hopman told Port City Daily Wednesday she’s never seen so many provisional ballots in an election and UNCW was a major contributor. On Tuesday, UNCW College Democrats President Jake Smith told PCD the provisional ballot line remained long at UNCW as several voters were not registered in Wilmington.
Hopman said the UNCW site was the last to close, at 9:30 p.m., and had the only significant lines across the county.
“Our inside observers said the whole process itself — not even the actual processing and balloting — like just going inside, going up to the help desk, explaining, then getting sent to the provisional ballot table — was really just slow and inefficient,” she said.
Because 3,412 ballots remain uncounted, Hopman said she is advising everyone she speaks to view the results with caution.
“I think there is a real chance we can still sweep the school board and flip the commission,” Hopman said.
School board candidate Jerry Jones shared the same optimistic outlook on Wednesday.
“This race is still very much ongoing,” he wrote in a statement to PCD.
He placed fourth in the school board race with 16.53% of the vote, right behind David Perry, with 16.71% of the vote. Jones is hopeful that provisional ballots will impact the outcome of the election.
“Our next steps are simply to wait for all voices to be heard,” he said.
Alternatively, Nikki Bascome was more accepting of the results. She expressed gratitude for her family’s support throughout the race — “who opened themselves up to the crazy and very mean world of politics” — as well as to her volunteers and supporters.
“I feel we ran an awesome race, with integrity, honesty, staying focused on our schools, our students, our families, our staff, and what I could have brought to the table,” she said. “This is not the result we had hoped for but the voters of New Hanover County have spoken.”
Bascome has not decided on a recount request at this time, she said, but plans to continue volunteering and substitute teaching. She also will retain her seat on the New Hanover County Schools Family Advisory Council.
Natosha Tew, who placed last in the race, did not respond to repeated requests for comment, along with second and third place candidates Tim Merrick and David Perry.
However, candidate Judy Justice, shared her thoughts on earning the most votes so far after garnering the second-to-least in the 2022 election to defend her seat.
“That’s a good thing, to literally show that you can’t let something like that stop you from doing the right thing,” Justice said on a Wednesday phone call.
She attributed her top position to her experience as an educator and time spent on the board, as well as remaining authentic and with good intentions, something she thought was missing on the current board. However, Justice said she has solid working relationships with the incoming Merrick and current chair Pete Wildeboer.
“I don’t know David that well, but I know him some — we’ve never had any problems,” Justice said. “Melissa [Mason], I get along with her.”
After taking office in December, one of Justice’s top priorities is to work with the board on selecting a new superintendent. However, she broke away from the current board’s partiality for interim Superintendent Christopher Barnes, though she did not disqualify him completely.
“He’s good, I like him as a person, but I think we need the absolute best in this district,” Justice said. “He doesn’t have the experience I would like us to have.”
Having been the district’s assistant superintendent of human resources, Justice said she wasn’t confident in Barnes’ experience overseeing a large school district’s budget or expertise in pedagogy. Justice said these things were more important to her than hiring an internal candidate intimate with NHCS.
Aside from the superintendent search, Justice said she is ready to dive into the NHCS budget, a $20-million thorn in the school board’s side during the 2024-2025 fiscal year — which also led to dozens of layoffs.
“We need to research stuff, work together, and do the absolute best to make good decisions for what goes on in our schools,” Justice said. “We haven’t done that, and it shows.”
As for the county commissioners’ race, Rivenbark was jubilant Wednesday after getting the most at 17.25% of votes. Rivenbark, a former school board member, has been a commissioner since 2020.
“It’s beyond words — it’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Rivenbark said of being re-elected.
He plans to see through the completion of projects started in his prior term, including the development of the Cape Fear Museum and combined public library now underway, known as Project Grace. He also spoke about preserving the beauty of the county he grew up in and continuing to draw new residents in with new greenspace projects that will be announced sometime in January.
Regarding the possibility of having a new board member in place of Barfield’s usual seat, Rivenbark said it would be “interesting” to sit down and hash out how the board will operate and prioritize projects moving forward.
Barfield, who is currently within the margin to request a recount after falling behind Walker by 249 votes, did not respond to Port City Daily’s request for comment by press. Walker also declined an interview since official results still haven’t been certified but did provide a statement.
“I am deeply appreciative and grateful to everyone in my community who supported and believed in me throughout this long, hard-fought campaign season,” Walker wrote in a text. “There is much to do in service to our citizens and children, as we work to elevate New Hanover County and help it thrive and prosper.”
A major component of Walker’s campaign was increasing New Hanover County school funding, in which the county contributes a third, though other priorities include affordable housing and keeping infrastructure pace with development.
Commissioner Scalise won his first election to the office after being appointed by the GOP in 2023, following the unexpected passing of Commissioner Deb Hays. His total vote count came to 16.25% or 60,599 votes, a close second to Rivenbark. Scalise did not return PCD’s request for comment by press.
Cassidy Santaguida and John Hinnant received 16.06% and 16.28% of the votes respectively.
In a released statement Wednesday morning, Santaguida said she was “disappointed” yet grateful for the opportunity to run. The current vote count does not allow her to request a recount, but if the numbers change after canvassing, she said she will reconsider.
Despite who moves forward, Santaguida indicated a desire to see the board adopt a comprehensive plan reflective of modern-day county needs — one that “establishes a more proactive approach to address the challenges we’ve experienced as a result of rapid growth, including soaring housing costs, the increased burden on schools and infrastructure, and protecting our environment.”
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