Wake County school board members Debra Goldman and John Tedesco won their respective races for State Auditor and state superintendent Tuesday night but were not able to avoid a runoff.
School board member Chris Malone won his primary for N.C. House District 35. Wake County commissioners Paul Coble and Tony Gurley were met with mixed results. Gurley edged his way into a run-off for Lieutenant Governor and Coble narrowly missed forcing a run-off for U.S. House District 13.
Paul Coble
Gurley has the option to not request a runoff, as do the second place finishers in Goldman and Tedesco’s race.
Click here to see the full results on the North Carolina Board of Elections webpage.
Neither the county commissioners nor school board members will risk giving up their local seats if they lose in this year’s elections.
The school board elections are technically non-partisan, so the Democratic majority on the school board will have the reins in filling any vacated school board seats.
Since the county commission is a partisan office, vacated seats have to be filled by members from the same party.
In the state level races, Wake Republicans managed to emerge from crowded fields. Goldman, Tedesco and Gurley each faced four opponents in their primaries. Public Policy Polling predicted run-off elections in each of their races.
Paul Coble was the early favorite in his race for U.S. House after being a figurehead in Wake County politics for more than the last decade. But former U.S. Attorney George Holding made a late surge to take the nomination outright. They faced off against the 2010 nominee Bill Randall.
“I am very pleased and humbled… and happy for my fellow school board members,” said Malone of Tuesday night’s results. He will go on to face former Wake County school board member Lori Millberg in November’s general election.
Of a potential runoff for State Auditor Debra Goldman said, “I would hope that he [opponent Greg Dority] does not ask for a run-off and cause all the people to spend all that money.”
Tedesco and Gurley could not be reached for comment on a potential runoff when all the elections results were returned.
Democratic County Commissioner Erv Portman is also running for higher office. He did not have a primary opponent for N.C. Senate District 17 and will go on to face attorney Tamara Barringer for the open seat.
