Party primary elections will be held Tuesday, May 6, in a number of statewide and local races, topped by the contest for the U.S. Senate seat held by Kay Hagen.
Polling places will open at 6:30 a.m. and remain open until 7:30 p.m. If you do not know your polling place or want more information, go to www.wakegov.com and click on Board of Elections. You do not have to show any ID to vote if you are a registered voter. The Wake County Board of Elections is, however, encouraging new first-time voters to carry identification when they go to vote.
You can also view your individual sample ballot at the Board of Elections site.
The statewide races are for the seat U.S. Senator Kay Hagan now holds and a nonpartisan primary for the seat North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Robin Hudson now holds.
On the Republican ballot for the U.S. Senate seat are Ted Alexander, Alex Lee Bradshaw, Greg Brannon, Edward Kryn, Mark Harris, Heather Grant, Jim Snyder and Thom Tillis.
On the Democratic ballot for the senate seat are Sen. Hagan, Ernest Reeves and Will Stewart.
On the Libertarian ballot are Tim D’Annunzio and Sean Haugh.
All voters will be asked to vote on the three candidates for the eight-year Supreme Court term. The registered Republicans are Jeanette Doran and Eric Levinson, and Associate Justice Hudson is a registered Democrat.
There are Wake County primary races for the District 13 U.S. House seat held by Rep. George Holding; the N.C. Senate held by Sen. Neal Hunt, who is retiring: the Wake County Board of Commissioners seat held by Joe Bryan; the position of Wake Clerk of Superior Court held by Nancy Lorrin Freeman; and the position of Wake County District Attorney, where longtime DA Colon Willoughby retired.
The primary for the District 13 seat in the U.S. House is for Democratic voters who must choose between Brenda Cleary, Virginia Colon and Arunava “Ron” Sanyal.
Republican voters will choose between incumbent Wake County Commissioner Joe Bryant and Fred Puryear for the District 1 seat on the county board.
There are both Democratic and Republican primaries to choose candidates for the position of Wake Clerk of Superior Court. Republicans must choose between Jennifer Knox, Barbara Moore and Joe E. Teague Jr. while the choices for Democrats are Sam Bridges and Blair Williams.
Likewise, there are primaries for both parties for the candidates to become the Wake County District Attorney. The Democratic field is made up of Nancy Lorrin Freeman (who is leaving her position as the Clerk for Wake Superior Court) and Benjamin (Boz) Zellinger. The Republican hopefuls are John Water Bryant, Jeff Cruden, Jefferson G. Griffin and Terry Swaim.
Early voting begins Thursday, April 24, and ends Saturday, May 3, but there is no early voting site in Wake Forest. You can vote early at the Wake County Board of Elections and the Lake Lynn Community Center in Raleigh and at sites in Cary, Knightdale and Holly Springs. To find those addresses, go to www.wakegov.com, choose Board of Elections and then Early Voting on the first page.
As of April 28, there were 653,498 voters in Wake County, with 259,491 registered as Democrats, 186,506 registered as Republicans, 3,057 registered as Libertarians, and 204,444 who are unaffiliated with any party.
