Filing period for the March 2020 primaries closed Friday at noon after being open since the first week of December. Races for the Board of Orange County Commissioners and a seat on the county’s district court will be contested going into the primaries, while the state-wide races saw fewer candidates file to compete in primaries.

Here is a breakdown of the contested local and statewide primaries:

North Carolina U.S. Senate Race (Dem)

Five Democratic candidates are running for the chance to run for Republican Senator Thom Tillis’ seat, which he has held for one term after serving in the state House of Representatives.

  • Trevor M. Fuller
  • Steve Swenson
  • Cal Cunningham
  • Atul Goel
  • Erica D. Smith

North Carolina U.S. Senate Race (GOP)

Self-funded candidate Garland Tucker chose to drop out right as the filing period began, but the filing of Mount Olive native Paul Wright kept Tillis from running uncontested.

  • Thom Tillis (incumbent)
  • Paul Wright (challenger)

U.S. House of Representatives NC District 4 (Dem)

David Price has represented District 4, which includes Orange County, Cary and Raleigh, for 22 years. Cary resident Daniel Lockwood filed to run against Price one day before the filing period closed.

  • David Price (incumbent)
  • Daniel Lockwood (challenger)

U.S. House of Representatives NC District 4 (GOP)

Raleigh resident Steve Von Loor looks to win the primary to potentially face incumbent David Price in the election, which he did in 2018. Price defeated Von Loor in that race 72 percent to 24 percent.

  • Debesh Sarkar
  • Steve Von Loor
  • Robert Thomas
  • Nasir A. Shaikh

North Carolina Gubernatorial Race (GOP)

Former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory debated whether to run for governor once again, but decided to not file for the Republican primary. The winner will face incumbent Democratic Governor Roy Cooper in November.

  • Lt. Gov. Dan Forest
  • Holly Grange

North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction (Dem)

  • James Barrett
  • Constance (Lav) Johnson
  • Jen Mangrum
  • Michael Maher
  • Keith A. Sutton

North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction (GOP)

  • Craig Horn
  • Catherine Truitt

Board of Orange County Commissioners (Dem)

This election cycle, there are four of seven county commissioner seats available: two seats from District 1, one seat from District 2 and one at-large seat. The race saw two challengers file to challenge incumbents, creating two contested races. All of the candidates are Democrats, so the race will be decided in the primary.

At-large:

  • Amy Fowler (challenger)
  • Mark Marcoplos (incumbent)

District 1 (two seats):

  • Mark Dorosin (incumbent)
  • Jean Hamilton (challenger)
  • Penny Rich (incumbent)

District 2:

  • Renee Price (incumbent)

North Carolina District Court, Judge District 15B Seat 3:

In the district court that handles Orange and Chatham County cases, Seat 3 became available because Judge Jay Bryan is forced to retire due to age. The other three judge seats up for election in the court saw no challengers.

  • Lamar F. Proctor, Jr.: challenger
  • Noah Oswald: challenger
  • Hathaway Pendergrass: challenger
  • Erika R. Bales: challenger

Orange County Schools Board of Education

A flurry of filings on the final day leaves seven candidates vying for three available seats on the Orange County Schools Board of Education. Board members Dr. Stephen Halkiotis and Matthew Roberts chose not to file for re-election, meaning their terms will end in June.

  • Lori Bateman (challenger)
  • Carrie Doyle (challenger)
  • Tony McKnight (incumbent)
  • Jennifer D. Moore (challenger)
  • Bonnie Hauser (challenger)
  • LaTarndra Strong (challenger)
  •  Jennie McCray (challenger)

 

A full list of all the races on the Orange County ballot can be found on the county’s Board of Elections website.

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