Union election recap: Helms, Sides win primary

MONROE – Christina Helms and Gary Sides were the top vote-getters in the Republican primary for the Union County Board of Commissioners.

Both have experience serving on the Union County Board of Education and have spoken about growth issues in Union County on the campaign trail. 

Helms, who was elected to the school board in 2012 and 2016, led commissioner candidates with 13,113 votes. Sides, a member of the school board since 2014, had 12,536 votes.

Former commissioner Parker Mills trailed Sides by 1,049 votes for the second and final slot. Results are unofficial until the county canvas.

Helms and Sides will not have any Democrats running against them in the November election.

“Thank you, Union County,” Sides wrote on his Facebook page following the primary. “I promise to work hard for you all!”

Union County Board of Education members Todd Price and Sarah May each cleared more than 14,500 votes in the Republican primary for the school board’s at-large seats. Challenger Linda O. Robinson finished third in the race, missing a seat by more than 7,000 votes.

Price and May will take on Democrats Liz Baxter and Weston Burroughs in November. 

Union County voters followed North Carolina trends when it came to voting for state and federal offices with the exception of one race – the Republican primary for U.S. Congress District 8.

Allan Baucom won Union County with 8,912 votes but he lost the primary to Mark Harris. Baucom not only was born and raised in Union County but he has chaired the board of commissioners. While Baucom had 730 more votes in Union County than Harris, he trailed Harris by 2,774 votes across District 8. Harris will take on Democrat Justin Dues in November.

N.C. House Reps. Mark Brody and Dean Arp each cleared over 80% to win their Republican primaries. Brody will face Democrat Judy Little in the general election. Arp will take on Democrat Leigh Coulter in November. 

District Court Judge Anna Goodwin had a 3,747-vote lead over challenger Cam Scott in the Republican primary for N.C. District Court Judge District 30 Seat 5 race. Goodwin won’t face a Democrat in November. 

Marvin residents rejected transportation and parks/recreation bonds.

Some 1,489 Marvin residents, or 78.12%, voted no for $15.35 million in transportation bonds. The transportation funding would have gone to “pay the capital costs of acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, widening, extending, paving, resurfacing, grading and improving streets and roads, including private roads and roads that are the responsibility of the state.”

Another 1,550 Marvin residents, or 81.36%, voted against the $5 million parks/recreation bonds. The park/recreation bonds would have gone toward “the capital costs of acquiring, constructing and improving parks and recreation facilities, including the acquisition of land for current and future parks and recreation uses.”

The village had an extensive education campaign about the bonds, going as far as to schedule individual meetings with neighborhoods.