Polk commissioners, sheriff among races at stake as polls open tomorrow

Published 12:33 pm Monday, November 1, 2010

Polk County voters will head to the polls tomorrow to decide several hotly contested local and state races.

Election day polls will be open tomorrow from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. (see page 4 for a list of Polk poll locations).

Green Creek Township voters will have a different polling place this year than in previous years. Instead of the Green Creek Fire Department, Green Creek polls will be located at the Green Creek Community Center. The other six Polk County polling places remain the same as previous years.

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Polk County voters will choose three commissioners, a sheriff, four board of education members and a clerk of court locally.

The local races include candidates for three open seats on the Polk County Board of Commissioners. Voters will choose three from the following candidates:

Ray D. Gasperson (D, Incumbent)

Margaret P. Johnson (D)

Tommy W. Melton (Unaffiliated, Incumbent)

David Moore (R)

Teddy B. (Ted) Owens (R)

Thomas E. (Tom) Pack (R)

Benny Smith (D)

Warren D. Watson (Unaffiliated, Incumbent)

Polk voters will also choose either Donald J. Hill (D) or Nathaniel G. (Nathan) Shields (R) as Polk County sheriff.

The Polk County School Board has four open seats, with only one seat being contested.&bsp; Incumbent James W. (Jim) Cowan and Suzanne Metcalf are vying for the Tryon Township seat. In uncontested races, incumbent Geoff Tennant for Columbus Township, incumbent Judy Jackson for Coopers Gap Township, and incumbent Sherry Page for Green Creek Township are seeking re-election.

Polk County voters will also vote on the clerk of court seat. Incumbent Charlene Owens (D) is unopposed in her bid for re-election.

Other races on the ballot will decide a U.S. Senate seat, a U.S. House of Representatives seat, seats in the N.C. Senate and the N.C. House of Representatives, a district attorney, several court of appeals judges and two soil and water conservation district members.

State offices to be decided include the seat of District Attorney 29B. Incumbent district attorney Jeff Hunt (R) is seeking re-election with no opponents.

Incumbent N.C. Senator Tom Apodaca (R) faces challenger Chris Dixon (D) for the N.C. Senate seat for District 48, which includes Polk County.

David Guice (R), incumbent for the N.C. House of Representatives, District 113, is seeking re-election uncontested.

Federal elections to be decided include a race for the U.S. Senate seat representing North Carolina. Incumbent Senator Richard Burr (R) is seeking re-election against challengers Elaine Marshall (D) and Michael Beitler (L).

The U.S. House of Representatives District 11 also has a race between incumbent Congressman Heath Shuler (D) and Jeff Miller (R).

Voters will also select several court of appeals judges, which are nonpartisan positions as well as participate in an instant runoff to fill a vacant court of appeals judge seat.

North Carolina ballots also include a referendum on a constitutional amendment providing that no person convicted of a felony may serve as sheriff. Voters will be asked to choose for or against the amendment to the Constitution that would prevent persons from running for sheriff if they have been convicted of a felony.

Early voting ended Saturday. See Tuesday’s Bulletin for early voting totals.

Polls will close at 7:30 p.m. and winners will be known unofficially sometime tomorrow night. Officially results are not announced until the Polk County Board of Elections canvases the votes sometime next week.Where to vote in Polk County:Precinct&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Township&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Polling place

TR123&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Tryon&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Harmon Field Log Cabin

299 Harmon Field Road, Tryon

SA04&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Saluda&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Saluda Fire Department

199 Walnut St., Saluda

GC05&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Coopers Gap&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Sunny View Elementary

6 Sunny View School Rd.,

Sunny View

WO06&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;White Oak&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Mill Spring Fire Dept.

66 School Rd., Mill Spring

CL07&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Columbus&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Polk County High School

1681 E. NC Hwy. 108, Columbus

CL08&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Columbus&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Isothermal Comm. College

1255 W. Mills St., Columbus

GC09&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Green Creek&bsp;&bsp; &bsp;Green Creek Community Ctr.

Cox Road, Green Creek

All polling places are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.