|  |  By Kristen Johnson, Staff Writer - Davidson County candidates have less than two months to campaign before the Nov. 5 General Election — and the northern end of the county is a hot target for the Board of Commissioner hopefuls.
Sam Watford, the Republican frontrunner after Tuesday’s primary election, said his “heart about beat out of my chest,” when he discovered he had placed first on the Republican ballot.
Watford, who said Wednesday he had not yet seen the county’s precinct breakdown, said he felt as though Thomasville’s southern end was one of his strongest areas.
“I’m from around that area, so naturally people would know me,” said the Denton Road resident. “Where I’ve got to work is in the northern area of the county.”
Watford, who was one of four candidates endorsed by incumbent Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege earlier in the campaign season, said that endorsement will boost his efforts.
“Hege is real strong in that area of the county,” Watford said. “That’s one advantage of being with him.”
Watford said his crews would work the upcoming Davidson County Fair and Everybody’s Day, and would more than likely make an appearance at the Barbecue Festival.
“We’re just not going to stop,” Watford said.
Fellow Republican candidate Don Truell, also a Hege nominee, is a newcomer to the primary election.
“All my posts have been non-partisan,” Truell said Tuesday evening.
Truell, a former Thomasville mayor and chief of police, said he felt as though the Thomasville area and the eastern side of the county were his strongest areas.
“I’ve got to work in the northern end of the county,” Truell said. “You go there and you feel like you’re already in Winston-Salem or High Point.”
Truell said he didn’t feel as though campaigning in those areas would be more difficult because of Hege’s influence.
“He’s real strong in that area. I feel like I’ll do pretty well up there,” he said, adding that he and Hege had held a strategy meeting Wednesday.
Truell said he was pleased with Tuesday’s results in spite of investing a small amount of money into his campaign.
“I’ve not spent a lot of money,” Truell said. “I think I won primarily on name recognition.”
In response to what he calls a strongly education-based campaign by area Democrats, Truell said he felt that wasn’t the best approach.
“I don’t know how you can talk to people about education with the economy the way it is,” Truell said.
Max Walser was the frontrunner on the Democratic ticket — and he, too, will be targeting the northern end of the county.
“I think that’s the area I’ll need to target to win,” Walser said.
The Lexington resident said he predicted needing roughly 3,000 Republican votes in order to win.
“Elections are numbers games,” he said. “They’re not about partisan politics. It would be healthier if we had a mix of Republicans and Democrats on the board.”
Walser said he had carried 35 of the county’s 42 precincts in the primary.
“The ones I didn’t carry were all Thomasville precincts,” he said, adding he had only lost those precincts by “a few votes.”
“I haven’t spent as much time here as I should have, but that will change,” he said.
Walser feels the county needs a firm goal in mind before it could proceed with day-to-day operations.
“Davidson County can’t continue to operate by the seat of our pants,” he said.
Loretta Martin, another Democratic candidate, came in a close second behind Walser. And for her, north Davidson is also a target.
“As Mr. Holman once pointed out to me, that was where he needed more votes from in order to win last time around,” Martin said.
She added that is the part of the county where people are more unfamiliar with her name.
“Up there, the residents identify more with Winston-Salem and High Point than they do Davidson County,” Martin said. “They need to be made aware of who I am and what I stand for.”
Martin said her campaign over the next few weeks would focus primarily on education and economic development.
“No matter what area of the county you’re from, those are important issues,” Martin said. “And especially in the northern section of the county where housing developments and subdivisions are more prevalent, water and sewer issues are important.”
Democratic candidate Charles Kennedy Jr. said he also planned to target north Davidson.
“I live in the southern end of the county,” the Kennedy Road resident said. “I’ve got to let north Davidson residents know who I am.”
Kennedy said Wednesday he had not had a chance to do much planning campaign-wise, but said he would be spending much of his time listening.
“I want to see what people want,” Kennedy said. “After all, they’re the ones who put me here.”
Democratic candidate Watson Gregg did not return phone calls Wednesday.
Staff writer Kristen Johnson can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 232, or at johnson@tvilletimes.com.
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