ECU student defeats 10-term incumbent in state House primary

RALEIGH — East Carolina Univerisity student Wyatt Gable defeated a 10-term North Carolina state House member in a primary election this week.

Gable, 21, a junior at ECU and resident of White Oak, defeated Rep. George Cleveland of Jacksonville in the Republican race. He will face a Democrat in November.

Cleveland, an 84-year-old former Marine Corps drill instructor, lost narrowly to Gable, who leads the ECU chapter of Turning Point USA, an activist group for young conservatives. Gable’s campaign website says he would work to lower taxes, renew home economics classes in public schools and improve health care for veterans.

Gable told The Daily News of Jacksonville that his success in the race “came down to people wanting a fresh set of ideas.”

“It took a lot of hard work by me and my team,” he said. “A lot of doors were knocked, and phone calls were made.”

Cleveland, a budget subcommittee chairman for dozens of state agencies, has advanced bills supporting the military and discouraging illegal immigration. The Associated Press left him a phone message seeking comment Thursday.

The Associated Press called the victory for Gable on Thursday after concluding there weren’t enough outstanding votes for the trailing candidate to catch up.

State law says trailing candidates in legislative contests can seek a recount if their vote totals are no more than 1 percentage point behind the leading candidate. Provisional ballots will be reviewed by county elections boards and added to vote totals. The boards meet late next week to finalize tabulations.

The AP also called the race for five-term Rep. Cecil Brockman of Guilford County, a Democrat targeted by some activists in his party for his willingness to vote with Republicans on some key bills. He survived a primary challenge from James Adams.

The AP has not called primary races for two other seats, as the margins between the candidates were narrow enough for a trailing candidate to seek a recount. They involve Democratic Rep. Michael Wray of Northampton County and GOP Rep. Sam Watford of Davidson County.

Unofficial primary results show Wray trailing Democratic rival Rodney Pierce of Halifax County. Wray also has been criticized by outside groups and other Democrats for aligning himself at times with leaders in the Republican-controlled House, who made him one of the senior chairmen on the powerful House Finance Committee.

Unofficial results show Watford, in his fourth House term, ahead of fellow Republican Eddie Gallimore, himself a former senator.

Two other General Assembly incumbents lost their primary elections on Tuesday: Sen. Mike Woodard of Durham County and Rep. Kevin Crutchfield of Cabarrus County.

Winners in the legislative primaries will all face November general election opposition, except for Brockman, who has no Republican opposition.