By Staff
venture
misfires
Says ‘ground’ bid
couldn’t fend off
a wealthy rival
By DAN PARSONS
Staff Writer
Washington native Greg Dority will not get a shot at becoming the state’s next lieutenant governor.
Although he carried at least his native Beaufort County and Martin County against his wealthy opponent, Robert Pittenger, a state senator from Charlotte, Dority failed to connect with voters statewide.
With all 21 precincts reporting, Dority had received 1,138 votes in Beaufort County. He received 232 votes in Martin County, with all precincts reporting.
Pittenger received 812 votes in Beaufort County and 176 votes in Martin County, with all precincts in the two counties reporting.
But with 92 of 100 North Carolina counties reporting at 11:20 p.m., Dority was in last place against his three competitors for the GOP nod. At that time, he had received 10.08 percent of the vote — a total of 44,221 votes. Pittenger was by far the highest vote-getter with 58.87 percent of the vote — a total of 258,328 votes. Timothy Cook took 52,698 votes for a percentage of 12.01, and Jim Snyder received 83,588 votes, or 19.05 percent.
All vote totals are unofficial until canvassed and certified May 13.
Pittenger will most likely face Democrat Walter Dalton in the November general election, according to vote totals posted on the State Board of Elections’ Web site late Tuesday.
Dority’s campaign failed to earn him 100,000 votes, which he said earlier Tuesday was the number his campaign was “designed” to solicit. If he had gained 100,000 votes, it would have been less than half the number Pittenger had gained by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.