In an election that saw Republicans sweeping many key national and state offices, Democrats continued their strong hold in Durham Tuesday.
Although Elizabeth Dole is set to become North Carolina's newest U.S. senator with the backing of about 55 percent of state voters, Durham County supported her Democratic opponent Erskine Bowles, 64 percent to 35 percent.
In addition, county voters supported U.S. Rep. David Price with a 73 percent margin en route to his 61 percent victory over Republican challenger Tuan Nguyen. Price's overall vote total nearly matches his support in 2000, when the on-leave Duke professor of political science garnered 62 percent of the vote.
"Durham is a very Democratic area," said Willie Covington, county register of deeds. "I'm afraid it won't mirror some of the other areas [in North Carolina]."
Covington attributed this year's strong turnout to the competitive race between Bowles and Dole.
"Although it's an off-season, [the election] has been greatly enhanced by the Bowles-Dole race," he said.
Democratic support was even greater in state and local races, many of which did not include Republican candidates.
Control of the state House seemed uncertain early Wednesday morning, with each party claiming control of near-majorities, but the state Senate appeared likely to remain in Democratic hands. Rejoining the House to represent the area around Duke will be Democratic Rep. Paul Luebke, who drew 85 percent of the vote. All of Durham's other Democratic candidates for the House won as well.
In Durham's state Senate races, Democrats Jeanne Lucas and Wib Gulley won with 89 percent and 56 percent of the vote, respectively.
All four Democratic incumbents for the Durham County Board of Commissioners who were running captured a seat, but newcomer and former City Council member Mary Jacobs led the all-Democrat pack with 17.31 percent of the vote.
Five Libertarians also competed in the race, but no Republicans were on Tuesday's ballot. Commissioner Ellen Reckhow, finishing a close second with 16.90 percent, said the incumbents were reelected because of their success in balancing growth with environmental concerns.
"We meet the needs of citizens despite scarce resources," she said.
Becky Heron, elected to her 11th term on the board, said while the incumbent-favoring vote implied the board is on the right track, many challenges lie in the years ahead. Specifically, the commissioners will tackle the problem of state-withheld reimbursements and other economic cutbacks, the county's mental health system and various transportation issues.
Incumbent Philip Cousin agreed with Heron's list of priorities and said he was pleased the returning members had finished so closely in the race.
"[Voter turnout] was a little stronger this year, even given the weather," he said, adding that the county's turnout is a good indicator of voter turnout throughout the state.
While most of the county's other races concluded as expected, Cousin said he was surprised by District 14's District Court judge contest between Drew Marsh and Jim Hill. Hill ended the night with a 55.57 percent victory.
"I thought Marsh would finish stronger," Cousin said, despite the sea of Hill supporters in maroon "Vote Hill" T-shirts flooding the Durham County courthouse.
"I felt [a victory] was going to be touch-and-go, depending on voter turnout," said Hill's wife Renee.
The county also supported the reelections of District Attorney Jim Hardin and Sheriff Worth Hill in unopposed races.
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