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Election Day Updates
Photos by James Nix
Harrisburg Mayor Tim Hagler was reelected Tuesday.
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Published: November 3, 2009
Updated: 11/03/2009 11:52 pm
CABARRUS - 10:40 p.m.: ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM 2009 ELECTION
In Kannapolis, this is Bob Misenheimer's second term as mayor and the seventh time he has run for elected office, he said. Misenheimer has lead the city through some of the most challenging issues in the past few years -- the inter-basin water transfer, the self-financing bond package for the N.C. Research Campus, namely.
Going into a new four-year term, Misenheimer and the incumbent City Council face a research campus stalled by a bad economy and a bad need for new infrastructure and public safety upgrades in the next few years.
Bill Georgiou, the challenger, was upbeat on the phone. He said he called Misenheimer to congratulate him.
"He solidifies one of the winningest political capital in the city," Georgiou said. "I should sit down with him and ask him what is it that he does."
Georgiou said he was disappointed, but realistic about his chances. He said it was a learning experience and that he is definitely going to win.
In Harrisburg, the mayor's race was close, but still a surprise to 10-year council member Phil Cowherd. He expressed disappointment to editor Jonathan Coleman about losing to incumbent Tim Hagler.
He said, in a prepared statement, that "Harrisburg's favorite son, Tim Hagler, has has work cut out for him." He declined to say more because he didn't want to get negative.
Hagler, on the other hand, said he is glad the people of Harrisburg still have faith in the work the mayor is doing.
In Concord, the surprising action of the day was the last-minute write-in campaign by Alex Porter against Scott Padgett. Porter ran for Concord City Council in 2007.
He said he put the write-in campaign together because he wanted voters who were going to vote against Padgett to have a better choice than Johnny Almond, who is an Elvis impersonator.
"I don't have a yearning to be mayor," he told editor Jonathan Coleman, "I have a yearning for the system to work, and for the system to work right, you have to participate."
As for the voter turnout, compared to last year's turnout of about 71 percent, this year's 9.1 percent is paltry at best. But incumbent Kannapolis council member Darrell Hinnant said, there was no big, decisive issue on the ballot this year.
"Eight years ago it was liquor-by-the-drink in Kannapolis," Hinnant said. "Nothing like that this year."
9:06 p.m.: With 40 of 43 precincts reporting, Concord Mayor Scott Padgett has been elected to a third term. Kannapolis Mayor Bob Misenheimer has been elected to a second term. Kannapolis council members Randy Cauthen, Darrell Hinnant and Gene McCombs all re-elected.
Will give the break-downs soon.
8:53 p.m.: With 27 of 43 precincts reporting, all the incumbent mayors are extending their leads over the challengers. In Kannapolis, the incumbent council members still in top three spots. In Harrisburg, challengers Chad Baucom, Jeffrey Phillips and William Withrow are leading incumbents Michael Hart and Steve Sciascia.
Concord
- Padgett: 71 percent
- Almond: 21 percent
- Write-in: 7 percent
Kannapolis
Mayor
- Georgiou: 26 percent
- Misenheimer: 72 percent
Council
- Cauthen: 30 percent
- Hinnant: 26 percent
- McCombs: 30 percent
- Mishkin: 12 percent
Harrisburg
Mayor
- Cowherd: 34 percent
- Hagler: 65 percent
Council
- Baucom: 28 percent
- Hart: 12 percent
- Phillips: 24 percent
- Sciascia: 14 percent
- Withrow: 18 percent
8:35 p.m.: Here are the results from the Midland mayor and town council races: Kathy Kitts has been elected mayor of Midland over candidate Robert Webb. Richard Wise and Don McSheehan has been elected to the town council.
Here's the break-down of the votes reported directly from the New Bethel polling place, the only voting precinct in Midland this year:
Mayor
- Kathy Kitts: 232 votes
- Robert Webb: 52 votes
Town council
- Richard Wise: 180
- Don McSheehan: 126
- Kee Hunter: 78
- Luke Bailey: 61
8:28 p.m.: Six precincts have reported in. Here is the breakdown:
Concord: Padgett continues to lead on Almond.
Kannapolis: Misenheimer up on Georgiou, Cauthen, Hinnant and McCombs still leading in council race.
Harrisburg: Hagler up on Cowherd, but Cowherd has closed the gap. Baucom, Phillips and Sciascia hold on to top three spots.
8:15 p.m.: Here are updated results straight from the Mount Pleasant precinct: Scott Barringer, Rick Burleyson and Maura Eberhardt have been elected to the town commission, over James Johnson III and Michael Metcalf. Warren Chapman has been elected to finish out his appointed terms.
Here is the break-down of votes from Mount Pleasant, including early voting results:
- Scott Barringer: 152
- Rick Burleyson: 111
- Maura Eberhardt: 144
- James Johnson III: 94
- Michael Metcalf: 90
7:42 p.m.: And the early voting results are posted and it looks like Concord Mayor Scott Padgett takes an early lead over Johnny Almond, 83 percent to 14 percent.
In Kannapolis, Mayor Bob Misenehimer is up on Bill Georgiou, 70 percent to 29 percent. Randy Cauthen, Darrell Hinnant and Gene McCombs lead the Kannapolis council race.
In Harrisburg, Mayor Tim Hagler is leading Phil Cowherd, 56 percent to 43 percent, with Chad Baucom, Jeffrey Phillips and Steve Sciascia with the top three spots in the town council race.
In Midland, Kathy Kitts is leading Robert Webb, but the write-in vote is leading the council race, with Don McSheehan coming in second.
In Mount Pleasant, Maura Eberhardt and Scott Barringer is leading the town commission vote.
Stay tuned for more results coming in.
7:30 p.m.: The polls are closed. Waiting for the results to start rolling in. Look for the early vote results posted to the board of elections soon: http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NC/Cabarru...
5:15 p.m.: Editor Jonathan Coleman found Concord Mayor Scott Padgett out at the polling place at All Saints Episcopal Church, doing some last-minute campaigning.
The polls close at 7:30 p.m. and we expect results to start rolling in by 8 p.m.
5:10 p.m.: Voting is expected to pick up now that the work day is done.
But in Mount Pleasant and Midland during the day, voter turnout was expectantly low.
Reporter Robin L. Gardner talked with Rose Barrier, chief judge of the Mount Pleasant precinct.
With less than 20 percent of the 1,000 registered voters choosing to come to the polls, a small minority will make the decision of who would occupy the four seats up for grabs on the Town Board of Commissioners in Mount Pleasant.
Voter turnout was lower than expected with well under the 500 voters Barrier had hoped would turn out.
Mount Pleasant usually has one of the higher ratios of attendance, Barrier said.
"We don't have any real controversy's going on at the moment. There are issues that people are concerned about, but anytime you have controversy you have high turnout," Barrier said.
Out in Midland, where there is only one precinct, reporter Jessica Groover caught up with chief judge John Parker at the New Bethel Elementary polling place.
Voter turnout was expected at around 25 or 30 percent of the approximately 1,600 registered voters in Midland. Parker said 134 people had voted at around 1:30 p.m., and the voting process had so far gone smoothly.
"There's no comparison to last year's (election day). We couldn't hardly breathe. We didn't look up. We just worked," Parker said.
Parker said many people seemed to know what they were doing and did not have a lot of questions. Many of the people who voted there in the early afternoon came to support a friend or neighbor who was running for the town's mayor or two town council seats.
Kathy Kitts and Robert Michael Webb, the two candidates running for mayor were at the school on Tuesday afternoon, as well as Richard P. Wise and Don McSheehan, two of the four candidates running for the town council seats.
3:45 p.m.: Voter turnout at Kannapolis' largest precinct -- New Hope Lutheran Church on Brantley Road -- reported 162 voters at 2:30 p.m. They have 2,621 people registered in that precinct.
Chief Judge Joe Mingo said it is the precinct that everyone looks to for a decisive answer on election results.
Outside the New Hope polling place, incumbent Mayor Bob Misenheimer, council members Randy Cauthen and Gene McCombs and Teddy Teis, campaigning for mayoral candidate Bill Georgiou, shook voters hands as they walked in to vote.
At the Midway precinct, at Midway United Methodist Church, Chief Judge Angela Plummer said turnout was also low. When compared to last year, she said, "Oh we are nowhere near our numbers last year."
There are 24,405 registered voters in Kannapolis -- 19,999 in Cabarrus County and 4,406 in Rowan County.
To see the combined results from Cabarrus and Rowan counties for Kannapolis races, click here: http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NC/10950/1...
2 p.m.: Board of Elections director Linda Grist said things continue to run smoothly at polls around Cabarrus County today. "It's been very quiet," she said, "which is always disappointing for us because we want a big turnout."
Grist said voter turnout in 2005 (the last election where Concord, Harrisburg, Kannapolis and Midland had mayoral races) were as follows:
Concord: 10%
Harrisburg: 18%
Kannapolis: 18%
Midland: 29%
Mount Pleasant: 33%
During the election, Midland and Mount Pleasant both held ABC beverage votes, she said, which likely increased turnout in those municipalities.
This year, there are 107,830 registered voters in Cabarrus County.
12:15 p.m.: The polls opened early this morning, at 6:30 a.m. and on time.
Cabarrus Board of Elections director Linda Grist said there have been no problems thus far with countywide voting and the turnout is "very slow."
Early voting turnout was drastically slow this year compared to 2008. Read the story here: http://www2.independenttribune.com/content/2009/oc...
Also, there are reports that Concord resident Alex Porter has put together a last-minute write-in campaign for mayor against incumbent Scott Padgett.
Porter ran for Concord City Council in 2007 against council member Jim Ramseur, but lost 56 percent to 42 percent.
Porter was also a plaintiff in the lawsuit against City of Concord over the Cabarrus County Jail.
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