GOP having another go at state House nomination

Dare County voters are getting another shot at nominating a Republican candidate for the District 6 seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Early voting for the state’s second primary, or runoff, is under way and will includes several statewide races, among them the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.

Mattie Lawson of Kill Devil Hills edged out Arthur Williams in the May three-way primary for the GOP nomination in District 6 but did not receive the required 40 percent of the vote.

Lawson, a Tea Party candidate campaigning on her conservative credentials, has been active in the county Republican Party, while Williams, a former Democratic representative from Beaufort County, switched his party affiliation.

Williams was a candidate in the Democratic Party selection of a successor to longtime Senate president Marc Basnight, who retired in 2011 for health reasons. Stan White of Dare County was appointed to the seat.

The winner will face Democrat Paul Tine in the fall.

Unaffiliated voters who did not cast ballots in May are eligible to choose a ballot in the runoff. Otherwise, they must vote in the same party primary that they chose in May. If they chose an unaffiliated ballot to vote in non-partison elections in May, they cannot vote in the runoff.

In Dare County, early ballots can be cast at the Board of Elections office at the Judicial Center in Manteo. The office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The last day to vote early is Saturday, July 14, from 8:30 am. to 1 p.m. Polls open July 17.

Other statewide candidates on the local ballot:

• Lieutenant governor, Republican — Dan Forest, Tony Gurley.

• Commissioner of Insurance, Republican — Richard Morgan, Mike Causey.

• Commissioner of Labor, Democrat, Marlowe Foster, John C. Brooks.

• Secretary of State, Republican, Kenn Gardner, Ed Goodwin.

• Superintendent of Public Instruction, Republican, John Tedesco, Richard Alexander.

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