Randolph remains unaffected by Nov. 3 ‘blue tsunami’

ASHEBORO — While a figurative “blue tsunami” washed over the country in the mid-term elections last week, Randolph County remained relatively ruby red.

Locally, Republican Darrell Frye retained his county commissioners seat with 70.34% of the votes, outpointing Democrat Robin Stevens 33,133 to 13,970. Republican David Allen kept his seat in an unopposed contest and Republican Duffy Johnson won unopposed to replace outgoing commissioner Hope Haywood, who chose not to run for re-election.

In the Asheboro City Schools Board of Education race, Mike Brown (3,795 votes) and Brad Thomas (3,770), supported by the local Republican Party in the non-partisan race, will fill the seats up for election, outlasting Hilda DeCortez (3,2360) and Mikayla Cassidy (3,073).

In the Randolph County Schools Board of Education race, Shannon Whitaker (19,722 votes), Fred Burgess (18,875) and Phillip Lanier (15,904) captured the three available seats over Hillie Smith (10,631), Eric Welch (7,547) and Ernie Thalasinos (5,923).

At the state level, conservative Randolph County voters helped Republican Reps. Brian Biggs (R-70) and Rep. Neal Jackson (R-78) retain their seats and Republican NC Sen. Dave Craven easily maintain his (70.47%), though all three will face different circumstances in the North Carolina Legislature where Democrats took control of the House with a 70 seats to 49 for Republicans and 1 for an Independent. That’s almost the exact opposite of the outcome of the 2024 presidential election when Republicans reached 71 seats and left the Democrats with 49.

In the state Senate, the Republicans held sway but barely, filling 26 seats to 24 for Democrats, which picked up four. One caveat, at press time, was in District 24 where Republican Sen. Danny Britt leads Democrat Catina Hamm by 268 votes, 50.24% to 49.76%, within North Carolina’s 1% recount threshold for legislative races. If Hamm were to emerge victorious, the Senate would be split 25-25, and Democratic Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt would break tie votes.

On a federal scale. Republicans entered the election with a 10 to 4 edge in US House seats, but now the Democrats hold a 10 to 4 edge. Losses included Richard Hudson, who fell to Democrat Richard Ojeda by a little over 6,000 votes despite Randolph County sending just under 70% of its votes Hudson’s way.

For a complete list of results in all races held in North Carolina, visit https://www.randolphcountync.gov/201/Board-of-Elections.