THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 1, 1995 TAG: 9502010441
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Former Sheriff Davis M. Sawyer Jr. was nominated by fellow Democrats Tuesday night to succeed state Rep. W.C. ``Bill'' Owens Jr. as a Pasquotank County commissioner.
Sawyer, long popular with older party members, easily topped Johnny L. Houston, a mathematics professor at Elizabeth City State University, and Cecelia Cartwright Austin, a local educator.
Although they may legally ignore the nomination, the six incumbent members of the county Board of Commissioners are expected to vote quickly to confirm the 68-year-old Sawyer.
Sawyer won more than the required 40 percent of the votes cast by members of the Pasquotank County Democratic Executive Committee who met in the courthouse to select a candidate to serve the two years of Owens' unfinished term.
``There will be no need for a second ballot,'' said Catherine Meggs, head of the Pasquotank Democratic Party, after a total of 65 votes were cast.
``Former Sheriff Sawyer received more than the needed 40 percent of the votes,'' Meggs said.
In a proceeding closely monitored by county Democratic officials, the ballots were counted by Pasquotank County Election Board Chairman Floyd Spellman and Election Supervisor Catherine Perry.
There was no announcement of the number of votes received by each candidate.
Under Democratic Party rules, if Sawyer had received less than 40 percent, a second election would have been held. The second ballot would have required 50 percent of the votes, plus one, to win.
Both Houston and Austin said they were ``keeping options open'' when asked if they would run in a future regular election for the county board.
Neither of the defeated candidates complained about the essentially secret ballot.
``I would have preferred to know how the voting came out,'' said Houston, ``but I have complete confidence in the integrity of those who counted the ballots.''
The nomination of Sawyer ended weeks of political jockeying by three Democratic Party factions.
Sawyer had been the choice of old-guard Democrats from the day last November when Pasquotank Commissioner Owens won election as the 1st District member of the N.C. House of Representatives.
Then, in recent weeks, ``Ceci'' Austin emerged as a candidate favored by Meggs and other younger Democrats.
Houston was a latecomer in the race. His name was only recently put forward by a group of African-American community leaders. by CNB