Surf City has a new council member with Andy Pleil winning Jeremy Shugarts’ seat and Hugh Cannady maintaining his. (Port City Daily/File)
PENDER COUNTY — As Election Day comes to a close, preliminary results in municipalities in Pender County indicate a few shifts on some town boards.
In Surf City, two seats are up on council, with newcomer Andy Pleil securing 42.61% of the vote, followed by incumbent Hugh Cannady with 28.97%.Pleil is taking Jeremy Shugarts’ seat, who received the least amount of votes at 7.84%; challenger Jillian Rodrigues de Miranda secured 19.86%.
In neighboring Topsail Beach, three commissioner seats were voted on. Nancy Thomason, appointed commissioner in the spring, was the top vote-getter at 29.34$ and will retain her seat. Close behind was John Best, re-elected by 29.18%. Mayor Pro Tem Tim Zizack (18.03%) has been outseated by Alex Arab (22.46%)
Port City Daily regularly covers Surf City and Topsail Beach politics, though four other municipalities also had council and mayoral elections, with Burgaw maintaining its mayor, Olivia Dawson, who ran unopposed and its board gaining a new commissioner in Myra McDuffie (47.15%). James Malloy was also re-elected (51.22%).
All five precincts are reporting 23.42% voter turnout, or 1,783, out of 7,612 total registered voters. This beats 2023’s municipal election numbers of 3.29% — or a total of 1,593 — voting.
Below are the initial results for all Pender County municipalities in the 2025 election, which will be canvassed by the county board of elections on Nov. 14.
Town of Atkinson Mayor
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
* Gary E. Alsup
21
77.78%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
6
22.22%
Town of Atkinson Commissioner
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
* Hector (Ray) Ramos
25
49.02%
* Penny Stith
21
41.18%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
5
9.80%
Town of Atkinson CommissionerUnexpired
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
* Denise Lewis
22
81.48%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
5
18.52%
Burgaw Mayor
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
* Olivia Dawson
142
97.26%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
4
2.74%
Burgaw Commissioner
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
* James Raymond Malloy
126
51.22%
* Myra McDuffie
116
47.15%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
4
1.63%
St. Helena Mayor
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
* Robert M. Barnhill
28
87.50%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
4
12.50%
St. Helena Council
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
* Neil Benton
31
51.67%
* Judith (Judy) Katalinic
25
41.67%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
4
6.67%
St. Helena CouncilUnexpired
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
* Shirley Jacobs
34
97.14%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
1
2.86%
Surf City Council
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
* Andy Pleil
1,000
42.61%
* Hugh A. Cannady
680
28.97%
Jillian Rodrigues de Miranda
466
19.86%
Jeremy Shugarts
184
7.84%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
17
0.72%
Topsail Beach Mayor
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
Frank Braxton
202
85.96%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
33
14.04%
Topsail Beach Commissioner
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
* Nancy Kerr Thomason
179
29.34%
* John Best
178
29.18%
* Alex Arab
137
22.46%
Tim Zizack
110
18.03%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
6
0.98%
Watha Mayor
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
* Needham C. Hall
15
88.24%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
2
11.76%
Watha Commissioner
NAME ON BALLOT
PARTY
BALLOT COUNT
PERCENT
* Ken Fountain
15
32.61%
* Samuel Miller
11
23.91%
* Rachel Stadsvold
10
21.74%
Joseph Craig
8
17.39%
Write-In (Miscellaneous)
2
4.35%
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Shea Carver is the editor in chief at Port City Daily. A UNCW alumna, Shea worked in the print media business in Wilmington for 22 years before joining the PCD team in October 2020. She specializes in arts coverage — music, film, literature, theatre — the dining scene, and can often be tapped on where to go, what to do and who to see in Wilmington.
When she isn’t hanging with her pup, Shadow Wolf, tending the garden or spinning vinyl, she’s attending concerts and live theater.
