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Bertie County Board of Education incumbents were successful in their reelection bids, but a Board of Commissioner incumbent was not, according to unofficial results from the general election held on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Commissioner Board Chair John Trent, an Unaffiliated candidate for the District 4 seat, was defeated by Vivian B. Saunders, a Democrat.

Saunders received a total of 4,489 votes to Trent’s 3,899. Out of Bertie’s 12 voting precincts, Saunders carried six of them on Election Day, all located in the western part of the county as well as the Colerain II precinct. Her largest margin of victory was in the Windsor I precinct (won by 124 votes).

But both candidates received the majority of their votes during the early voting period. Saunders received 3,236 votes from in-person early voting and 77 absentee by-mail votes, while Trent received 2,841 early in-person and 40 absentee votes, respectively.

Saunders is the Executive Director of the Hive House, a nonprofit located in Lewiston-Woodville.

Two candidates sought the Board of Commissioners District 1 seat after incumbent Ron Wesson decided not to run for another term.

Democrat candidate Lewis (L.C.) Hoggard III secured the seat with 5,089 total votes, defeating Republican challenger J. Willie Davis, Jr. who received 3,613 votes.

Hoggard carried eight out of 12 Bertie precincts with the votes cast on Election Day. His largest margin of victory was in the Windsor I precinct (won by 195 votes) and the Roxobel precinct (won by 128 votes).

Similarly to other races, these two candidates received the majority of their votes during the early voting period. Hoggard received 3,754 in-person early votes while Davis received 2,618 early votes.

Hoggard is no stranger to politics, having previously served on the county Board of Commissioners. More recently, he also served as a Windsor Town Commissioner.

There was only one candidate on the ballot for Register of Deeds. Annie F. Wilson, the Democrat incumbent, did not have any challengers in the primary election earlier this year nor any challengers from other parties in the general election.

Wilson received a total of 6,712 votes, with 4,845 of those cast during the early voting period.

Bertie County voters also decided two nonpartisan races: Board of Education (two seats) and Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor.

Reba Cooper Carlton, current chair of the school board, secured another term to represent District 1. She received 3,813 votes to defeat challenger Regina B. Harmon, who received 3,012 votes. There were also 49 write-in votes cast in the race.

On Election Day, Cooper Carlton carried 5 of Bertie’s 12 precincts, all located in the southern half of the county. Harmon actually received 23 more votes than Cooper Carlton on Election Day. But like in other races, the bulk of the votes came in during the early voting period.

Cooper Carlton received 2,872 of those in-person early votes while Harmon received 2,085.

Tarsha Bush Dudley, the other incumbent, was unopposed in her bid for another term to represent District 5 on the county’s Board of Education. She received 6,300 votes in total, and 4,488 of them were received during early voting.

There were also 87 write-in votes in the District 5 race.

John M. Griffin was the only candidate in the Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor race. He received 6,216 votes, of which 4,482 of them were cast during early voting. There were also 61 write-in votes.

Bertie County voters also cast their ballots in the NC House of Representatives District 23 race. That district includes Bertie as well as Martin and Edgecombe counties.

Democrat incumbent Shelly Willingham secured another term over Republican challenger Brent Roberson. In the three-county district, Willingham received a total of 24,970 votes to Roberson’s 19,297.

Of those 24,970 votes for Willingham, 5,111 of them were cast in Bertie County.

Voter turnout for Bertie County was 71.64 percent, which is much higher than the 25 percent turnout for the primary election held in March this year. But it’s also a decrease from the 74 percent voter turnout in 2020, the last time there was a presidential race at the top of the ballot.

All results are unofficial until canvassed by the county board of elections.