The results of election night two weeks ago gave way for a dynamic change in Washington Politics, where the Republican Party was successful in obtaining 8 open seats to take control of the United States Senate. Along with increasing their majority in the House of Representatives, the GOP now completely controls both chambers of Congress.
It is expected that the new Senate Majority Leader will likely be Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who will replace soon to be former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). One of the Republican’s eight pickups was the election of the Speaker of the House of the NC Legislature, Thom Tillis. Tillis defeated incumbent Senator Kay Hagan by a very slim margin of 49% to 47% in one of the closest Senate elections in the NC History. He will join Richard Burr (R-NC) in representing North Carolina in the upper chamber.
Many consider the shift of power as a direct mandate on the policies of President Obama, and the political gridlock on Capitol Hill likely contributed to the results as well. Democrats were more successful in the local realm of politics, however. Democratic candidate Alma Adams defeated Republican candidate and former TV personality Vince Coakley for representation of North Carolina’s 12th Congressional district, which parallels Interstate 85 and includes both Charlotte and downtown Salisbury. Longtime incumbent Jeff Barger held off Republican challenger Sandy Yon for the position of Clerk of Court.
However, most of the success in Rowan County was found in the Republicans, who like the nationwide results, boasted of numerous GOP victories. All three open seats for Rowan County Commissioner were claimed by Republicans Jim Greene, Greg Edds, and Judy Klusman, edging out Unaffiliated candidates Raymond Coltrain, Gene Miller, and Chris Cohen, as well as the Democratic contenders Rick Locklear and Leda Belk. State Representatives Harry Warren and Carl Ford ran unopposed for their seats of the 77th and 76th districts respectively, and thus were reelected. John Brindle defeated Sandra Campbell for the Register of Deeds position, replacing outgoing Harry Welch. And in one of the biggest victories in the county, Incumbent Sheriff Kevin Auten easily won reelection over Democratic challenger Jack Eller.
Auten, a Catawba College graduate, was happy to see results go in favor of his reelection. When asked how it felt to win reelection as Sheriff, He replied “We must be doing something right.” The election results have concluded for this time around, and now residents closely watch to see if the officials who they elected will do their part to represent Rowan County, North Carolina, and the United States to their utmost ability.
