Unless you live under a rock, you have to be aware that there will be party primaries on Tuesday, May 6. The fast and furious television and radio ads tell you (maybe) something about a candidate or his/her opponent, but none of them list all the candidates.
This is what you will see on your ballot on May 6.
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 senate seat are Ted Alexander, Alex Lee Bradshaw, Greg Brannon, Edward Kryn, Mark Harris, 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, 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) Zellingger. 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 Election and then Early Voting on the first page.
While there you can also look at your sample ballot and find other information about voting.
If you want or need to use an absentee ballot, the last day to request one is Tuesday, April 29. Go to the Board of Elections site for information about making that request.
As of April 21, there were 654,541 voters in Wake County, with 259,550 registered as Democrats, 186,525 registered as Republicans, 3,062 registered as Libertarians, and 204,404 who are unaffiliated with any party.
