THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 TAG: 9605080409
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Garrulous grocer Sam Walker Jr. often waxed poetic about his vision for Currituck County should he win the Democratic primary against incumbent Commissioner Gene Gregory.
Not on Tuesday night.
Walker, who currently serves on the school board, lost with 816 votes to Gregory's 1,106 votes.
Gregory will square off in November against Republican Bill Dobney, the associate superintendent of the county's public schools, for the Crawford Township seat on the Board of Commissioners.
Gregory, who works for Ford Motor Co. in Norfolk, was not available for comment immediately following Tuesday's results.
The Gregory-Walker race was the only local contest on Currituck County ballots.
Twenty-four percent of the county's 9,223 registered voters went to the polls.
``That's pretty good, I think,'' Currituck County Elections Supervisor Doris Sawyer said, noting the stormy weather that prevailed the entire day.
Walker said earlier Tuesday that he hoped to carry the day, but even if he lost he was glad to have ``put issues on the table to help facilitate discussion.''
Gregory had said prior to Tuesday that he wanted another term on the Board of Commissioners to fulfill projects begun during his tenure.
The 55-year-old father of two cited a new judicial complex and water plant expansion.
Gregory is the first incumbent commissioner to win a race in the past two years.
During the 1992 general elections, two of three incumbents running for re-election were defeated. A third decided against running for a new term.
KEYWORDS: ELECTION NORFOLK CURRITUCK COUNTY BOARD OF
COMMISSIONERS RACE RESULTS by CNB