By Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

Polk County’s Tuesday, March 15 primary election results were made official this week after the Polk County Board of Elections conducted its official canvassing of votes.

Polk County voters chose their party nominations for U.S. president and county commissioners among other state nominations. Polk voters chose Bernie Sanders on the Democratic ticket for U.S. president and Donald Trump on the Republican ticket for U.S. president.

Trump won in all seven of Polk’s precincts, while Sanders won in Coopers Gap, Saluda and Green Creek and Hillary Clinton won in White Oak, Columbus 1, Columbus 2 and Tryon precincts.

Polk voters also voted in favor of the Connect NC Public Improvement Bond referendum. All of the county’s seven precincts voted in favor of the bond except for Coopers Gap, which voted against the bond 258 against and 235 in favor.

Voters also chose Polk County commissioner candidates Penny Padgett, Rhonda Lewis and Russell Mierop as Democrats and Jake Johnson, Tommy Melton and Myron Yoder as Republicans. Those candidates will run for three open seats on the board of commissioners during the general election on Nov. 8.

Polk County’s voter turnout for the primary was 38.98 percent, which was 6,023 ballots cast out of 15,450 registered voters in the county.

To see a full list by precinct, visit www.ncsbe.gov and go to election results. By clicking on “view contest details” on each race a precinct breakdown can be viewed.

Following are charts with official votes from Polk County for Democrat, Republican and Libertarian tickets:

 

U.S. President-Rep

Donald Trump           1,650

Ted Cruz                    1,138

John R. Kasich                464

Marco Rubio                  223

Ben Carson                      34

Rand Paul                        13

Jeb Bush                           12

Mike Huckabee                10

No Preference                 10

Carly Fiorina                      6

Chris Christie                     2

 

U.S. President-Dem

Bernie Sanders                      1,135

Hillary Clinton                       1,109

No Preference                             52

Martin J. O’Malley                       22

Roque Rocky De La Fuente          8

 

 

U.S. President-Lib

No Preference                        9

Gary Johnson                         3

John David Hale                    2

Barbara Joy Waymire           2

Austin Petersen                      1

 

U.S. Senate-Rep

Richard Burr              1,473

Greg Brannon               923

Paul Wright                   340

Larry Holmquist           238

 

U.S. Senate-Dem

Deborah K. Ross        1,397

Chris Rey                       206

Kevin D. Griffin             174

Ernest T. Reeves           160

 

N.C. Governor-Rep

Pat McCrory                           2,491

Charles Kenneth Moss            374

C. Robert Brawley                    322

 

N.C. Governor-Dem

Roy Cooper                1,464

Ken Spaulding              548

 

N.C. Lieutenant Governor-Dem

Holly Jones                 1,007

Linda Coleman             588

Robert Earl Wilson       174

Ronald L. Newton         148

 

N.C. Attorney General-Rep

Buck Newton             1,354

Jim O’Neill                 1,189

 

N.C. Attorney General-Dem

Josh Stein                   1,242

Marcus W. Williams     625

 

 

 

N.C. Commissioner of Agriculture-Rep

Steve Troxler             1,497

Andy Stevens             1,063

 

N.C. Commissioner of Insurance-Rep

Mike Causey                  942

Joe McLaughlin            783

Ronald (Ron) Pierce    694

 

N.C. Commissioner of Labor-Dem

Charles Meeker         1,040

Mazie Ferguson            799

 

N.C. Secretary of State-Rep

Michael LaPaglia       1,382

A.J. Daoud                   1,041

 

N.C. Supt. Of Public Instruction-Rep

Mark Johnson           1,217

Rosemary Stein            956

J. Wesley Sills               287

 

N.C. Supt. Of Public Instruction-Dem

June Atkinson           1,598

Henry J. Pankey           312

 

N.C. Treasurer-Dem

Dan Blue III               1,098

Ron Elmer                     734

 

N.C. State Senate District 47-Dem

Tim Murphy              976

Mary Jane Boyd       908

 

N.C. House of Representatives District 113-Rep

Cody Henson                         1,682

Coty James Ferguson             825

 

County Board of Commissioners-Rep

Jake Johnson                        2,032

Tommy Melton                      1,778

Myron L. Yoder                      1,590

John Dennis Hill                    1,221

Josh Denton                            1,145

 

 

County Board of Commissioners-Dem

Penny Padgett                      1,571

Rhonda Lewis                       1,488

Russell A. Mierop                 1,196

Kim Pack                                1,105

 

Connect NC Public Improvement Bond

For                  3,431

Against           2,175