... and the next morning

Checking WRAL's listings this morning, nothing changed, only solidified, since last night.

In the state Supreme Court race, incumbancy carried the night. Sarah Parker defeated challenger Rusty Duke 67-33; Mark Martin held off eccentric challenger Rachel Hunter by the same margin. Patricia Timmons-Goodson, who didn't put out a single campaign sign I can recall, defeated Eric Levinson 58-42. In the one race without an incumbent, Robin Hudson bested Ann Marie Calabria in a much closer result, 51-49.

The same kinds of margins played out in the Congressional races. Incumbent Bob Etheridge (D) retains his seat for another term, handing the Republicans' former 2nd District chairman Dan Mansell a 66-34 loss. Dan only filed for the election the week of the deadline this spring, and only had about $25,000 of funding for a campaign over a district which sprawls across several counties including Nash, Wake, Johnston, Harnett, Wayne, and if I'm not mistaken, parts of Lee County, too. On the other hand, in Lillington, Etheridge's home town, the "Bob Etheridge for Congress" billboard on the highway looked more permanent than the municipal "Welcome to Lillington" sign next to it. Only 18 months until the filing deadline for 2008.

In other Congressional races, the office holders remain, with the exception of the 11th District's Republican Charles Taylor, who was unseated by Heath Shuler 54-46; the 8th District's Robin Hayes (R) is 50-50 with challenger Larry Kissell who trailed by 468 votes at the end of the counting.

The Johnston County School Board races didn't change overnight; the Republicans picked up a seat with Butler Hall, who carried the same 18% of the ballots as returning Democratic incumbent Dorothy Johnson. Larry Strickland was a shoo-in with 24%. Newcomer Brian Hale scored a respectable but not quite adequate 12%. This will give the Republicans a 3-4 minority on the board, not enough to run the program but a welcome boost.

It looks like Jackie Lee is not going to move to the Superior Court after all, though Republican Susan Doyle has won the district attorney's job.