Live results: Democrats ahead in 3 of 4 NC General Assembly races around Charlotte
Democrats led three out of four state legislative races in the Charlotte region Tuesday night, with all precincts reporting, according to unofficial results. But one race was separated by 425 votes.
These House and Senate district races stretched from Cabarrus County to Cornelius and Pineville.
Some races were in districts with tight splits between Democratic and Republican voters. The races play a vital role in determining whether Republicans gain a supermajority — enough seats to overturn Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.
Some mail in ballots still have not been opened or counted and some provisional ballots exist. The Mecklenburg County Board of Elections intends to certify the election on Nov. 18.
House District 73
The race for House District 73 in western Cabarrus County was set to be one of the tightest in the state. It leaned Democratic, but only by a margin of about 2%, according to composite of past election results.
With all 14 precincts reporting, Democrat Diamond Staton-Williams held a slight lead over Republican Brian Echevarria. Williams had 13,779 votes, 50.78%, to Echevarria’s 13,354 votes, or 49.22%, according to unofficial results.
Echevarria is a first-time candidate who says on his website he started a construction business, while Staton-Williams is a registered nurse and member of the Harrisburg Town Council.
Echevarria made headlines in October for taking credit for a now-inactive Facebook page and corresponding LLC called “Spank That Tail,” which advocated the spanking of children. Echevarria told The Charlotte Observer the page and business were jokes.
Business filings showed Echevarria as the registered agent of Spank That Tail, LLC., which is dissolved. Echevarria said in a 2020 interview with a Charlotte church that he supports physically disciplining children, and held up a paddle engraved with a Bible verse.
Like others in the state, abortion was a key issue in the race.
In a Facebook post, Echevarria said he would vote for “the best bill that we can get through, the one that can save the most lives, whether that’s 15 weeks, 12 weeks, heartbeat.”
Williams supports abortion rights and said she would defend them as a legislator. She’d also push for more funding for school counselors and improved access to mental health care.
Echevarria supports eliminating the state’s corporate tax in hopes of making North Carolina “the nation’s hub for business,” his website says. Williams said she believes the state should keep the tax “to ensure corporations pay their fair share.”
The district includes Harrisburg, Rocky River, Pharrs Mill and most of Concord.
Staton-Williams said she’d be the first African American woman elected to represent this area in the state House. Much of House District 73 is represented by Larry Pittman, a Republican. Pittman did not seek re-election.
House District 98
Catawba College political science professor Michael Bitzer has called this district “one of the most coin-toss districts in the state.”
Republican incumbent John Bradford went up against Christy Clark for a third time Tuesday night. Bradford, the sole Republican in the Mecklenburg County legislative delegation, beat Clark in 2020. Clark beat Bradford two years before that in a state House race.
With all 10 precincts reporting, Bradford had 51.23% of the vote and Clark had 48.77%, according to unofficial results.
District 98 includes Cornelius, Davidson and much of western Huntersville. Bradford is the senior chairman of the House Finance Committee and vice chairman of the Regulatory Reform Committee. An entrepreneur, Bradford has campaigned partly on his support for business growth in the district.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy,” Bradford said in a campaign video in September.
In addition to previously serving in the legislature, Clark has worked as a teacher in northern Mecklenburg. “Through this work, I see first-hand the detrimental impact that a decade of Republican leadership in Raleigh has on our public schools and working families,” Clark says on her website.
North Carolina Democrats spent a lot in the race, with Clark raising $497,135 through Oct. 22. Bradford raised $412,116 through the same date.
District 98 leans Republican, but only by a few percentage points, according to the state’s composite of past election results.
House District 103
Former Republican legislator Bill Brawley was hoping to return to the state House with a win in District 103, which includes Matthews. That did not look like it was going to happen.
The Democratic nominee is Laura Budd, an attorney, member of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association Board of Directors and a member of the Matthews Chamber of Commerce.
With all 17 precincts reporting, Budd had 52.21%, according to unofficial results, with Brawley holding 47.79% of the vote.
District 103 leans Democratic but is poised to be competitive, according to past election results. Brawley lost to Rep. Rachel Hunt in 2018 by fewer than 100 votes. Hunt, the daughter of former Gov. Jim Hunt, unseated Brawley after five terms in office.
As senior chair of the Finance Committee and a co-chair of Appropriations, Brawley was arguably Mecklenburg County’s most influential lawmaker at that time, The Charlotte Observer reported ahead of the 2018 election. Hunt and Brawley faced off again in 2020, but Hunt won then by more than 4,000 votes. Hunt is now running for North Carolina Senate.
In 2018, Rachel Hunt, who is now running for state Senate, beat Brawley by just 68 votes. She beat him in 2020 by 4,810 votes.
Senate District 42
Rachel Hunt, the Democratic nominee and current state House representative, faces Republican nominee and cardiologist Cheryl Russo. Russo narrowly won in the primary, beating her competitor by about 160 votes.
With all 47 precincts reporting, Hunt had 54.69% of the vote. Russo had 45.31%.
The district includes Matthews and the area just east of Pineville, including Carolina Place Mall. The district leans Democratic and includes much of the area Hunt already represents in the state House.
Declaring victory late Tuesday night, Hunt thanked the district for having confidence in her.
“Whether it’s crime, the economy, a women’s right to medical privacy or protecting our democracy — there are a lot of issues in the minds of voters that need to be addressed,” Hunt said in a statement shared with The Charlotte Observer.
Charlotte Observer reporter Will Wright contributed to this report
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 7:53 PM.
