|  |  By John Carson, Editor - With the Sept. 10 primary safely tucked away, scattered groups of pachyderms around the county have formed a unified herd, and are ready to thunder toward the November general election.
“A majority of the party is happy to have the primary behind us,” Davidson County Republican Party Chairman David Faust said. “We have our ticket together, and we’re going to work hard to get that ticket elected.”
The belated primary saw a less-than-unified GOP in the county.
On the Republican side of the Davidson County Board of Commissioners race, there were 12 candidates running for four November slots.
In the sheriff’s race, three challengers took on two-term incumbent Gerald Hege for one general election ballot position.
“We’re happy with our ticket,” Faust said. “We weren’t dissatisfied with any of the candidates in the primary, and feel we have a good ticket for November.
“We definitely satisfied with the candidates who made it through the primary.”
Of that dozen vying for the four board of commissioners slots, three were incumbents — Cindy Akins, Rick Lanier and Fred McClure.
Akins had no trouble advancing to November, placing second in the primary as one only two GOP candidates to receive more than 5,000 votes.
However, the fates of Lanier and McClure were not decided until Monday.
Unofficial vote totals last week saw Lanier finish a mere three votes ahead of McClure for the fourth and final spot.
Official tallies later in the week pushed Lanier’s lead to eight — prompting McClure to call for a recount.
The recount, conducted Monday, added another vote to Lanier’s side and sent McClure home.
While Lanier and McClure battled for the final slot, Sam Watford and former Thomasville mayor Don Truell finished first and third, respectively.
Although Watford’s victory in the primary — he finished more than 400 votes ahead of Akins — raised some eyebrows, it came as no shock to Faust.
“His winning was no surprise,” Faust said. “Sam ran hard, worked hard and spent some money on advertising. It was no surprise to me how he finished.
“Someone who works that hard deserves to win, but sometimes not everyone who works hard wins. I was glad to see it happen for Sam.”
In terms of the party platform for November, Faust was quick to say it all comes to one thing — taxes.
Faust likened the current tax and economic situation to that when Ronald Reagan moved into the White House in 1980.
“We have to hold the line on taxes,” he said. “The county, state and nation are in a recession. The governor held back funds from the county, and that made it tough for the county government to get the things done that it needed to do.
“I’ve told all the candidates to do what they can to cut the size and spending of county government across the board.”
With roughly six weeks remaining before voters head back to the polls, the GOP is looking to continue its veritable stranglehold on county government.
However, the fact remains there is some dissatisfaction within the party and how things have been done — as evidenced by 12 commission and five sheriff candidates in the primary, only two of the three incumbents advancing, two candidates finishing above an incumbent and a newcomer besting all the incumbents.
Further evidence is shown in the breakdown of the primary vote.
As winner, Watford only received 13 percent of the vote, while Akins had 12. Truell, Lanier and McClure each garnered 11 percent.
Not too far behind that was Reid Sink (10 percent), John Faust (10 percent), David Miller (7 percent) and Paul Housand (7 percent) — each of whom received more than 2,750 votes.
Ironically, the biggest hurdle David Faust sees come November is not from Democratic opposition.
“The biggest challenge in November is getting the votes out,” he said. “Our registration is 8,000 more than the Democrats, so I am confident. It’s just a matter of getting the voters out.”
Admitting he was not going to give “any Democrats free publicity,” Faust added the party is relying on its tradition to make November a success.
“Davidson County is known for being conservative,” he said. “We really see no obstacles in our opponents.
“We just have to get people out to vote the same way they have for the past 12 years.”
Managing editor John Carson can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 229, or at editor@tvilletimes.com.
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