THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 1, 1994 TAG: 9406010506
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: D1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: 940601 LENGTH: Medium
In the sheriff's race in Perquimans County, David Lane won the Democratic nomination over incumbent Joseph Lothian by a 2-1 margin. Lane drew 1,077 votes to Lothian's 577.
{REST} J. Owen Etheridge edged Ronnie J. Cooper for the Democratic at-large seat on the Currituck County Board of Commissioners. Etheridge earned 1,573 votes to Cooper's 767.
Elsewhere in the area in delayed primary elections, Tyrrell County voters were selecting two Democratic candidates for the county's Board of Commissioners and electing four members to the county school board.
In both Currituck and Perquimans counties, Tuesday's Democratic winners for sheriff will be unchallenged by Republicans in the November general elections.
Cartwright, the department's deputy chief, had beaten Brinkley in a five-man race on May 3. But the vote was close enough for Brinkley, a deputy supervisor, to call for a runoff.
Both men had campaigned for a more efficient police force, which currently includes 30 members. Brinkley wanted to hire additional officers, while Cartwright believed more could be done by better educating the current staff.
Brinkley, 45, is originally from northern Virginia and has been with the Currituck sheriff's department for 23 years. He stressed adult education on illegal drugs and community crime-watch programs as ways to control crime in the state's second-fastest growing county.
In Perquimans County, winner Lane, 40, also will run alone in November.
Lane is currently the police chief in Winfall. The Hertford native's background includes service as a U.S. Army platoon sergeant and a decade as a military policeman.
Unlike the nominees for sheriff, Currituck County runoff victor Etheridge still has another battle ahead of him.
Etheridge, 42, will face Republican challenger Michael Weatherly of Moyock in November. Both men hope to replace Jerry Wright, who is not seeking re-election, for the at-large seat on the Currituck County Board of Commissioners.
Etheridge, of Shawboro, is a financial planner and lifelong county resident who has served for eight years on the Currituck County Planning Board.
Tyrrell County held its first primary elections Tuesday after a monthlong delay caused by a recent lawsuit that changed the rural county's voting system.
Primary winners Tuesday under the new ``limited voting'' process, which allows voters to select only one candidate regardless of the number of seats up for election, include incumbent Thomas W. Spruill and challenger Lillian D. Hill for two Board of Commissioners slots. Spruill earned 431 votes, and Hill placed second with 307 votes. Peggy H. Edwards was a distant third with 87 votes, and William A. ``Billy'' Oakes received 73 votes.
Lynn O'Neal Williams narrowly defeated Janet L. Bowser by a vote of 486 to 424 for the two-year unexpired term on the county's Board of Education.
Securing the three full-term seats on the school board were Larry G. Hill with 345 votes, incumbent Jackie C. Smith with 189, and Gordon W. Barnes with 170. Other results were incumbent Harry L. Spruill with 153 and Frankie ``Porky'' Armstrong with 86.
Voter turnout was expected to be higher in Currituck, Perquimans and Tyrrell counties than other northeastern North Carolina localities choosing only between two judicial candidates in a statewide primary runoff.
Elizabeth McCrodden, 50, was running to keep her seat on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. She was challenged by Fayetteville lawyer John Tyson, 40, who placed second in the three-way race May 3.
by CNB