OK, first the election results. Congratulations Barry, Earl, Lindy, Debbia, Donna, Brenda, and Anne! Then, the Pundits of the Year! (I know you can't wait, right?)
These are final UNOFFICIAL results from the NC Board of Elections awesome web site (click the "map" links to see results by precinct)...
County Commissioners, At-Large (D) map
| Percentage | Votes | |
| Joe Phelps | 31.76% | 3689 |
| Barry Jacobs (i) | 52.74% | 6125 |
| Joal Broun | 15.50% | 1800 |
| 11614 |
| Percentage | Votes | |
| Renee Price | 49.16% | 2636 |
| Earl McKee | 50.84% | 2726 |
| 5362 |
| Percentage | Votes | |
| Lindy Pendergrass (i) | 68.36% | 8016 |
| Clarence Birkhead | 31.64% | 3710 |
| 11726 |
Orange County Board of Education (non-partisan, top 4 are elected) map
| Percentage | Votes | |
| Will Atherton | 11.49% | 2423 |
| Donna Dean Coffey | 15.22% | 3211 |
| Keith D. Cook | 10.66% | 2248 |
| Anne Medenblik (i) | 12.16% | 2665 |
| Laura Nicholson | 11.85% | 2500 |
| Debbie Piscitelli (i) | 16.76% | 3534 |
| Brenda Stephens | 12.57% | 2651 |
| Charles (Greg) Williams | 8.95% | 1888 |
| Write-in | 0.34% | 71 |
| 21091 |
![[POTY 2010 chart]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4585546264_09f13d8029_o.png)
Now to discuss the Pundit of the Year results. I'd like to go race-by-race because there were some that almost everyone got right, and some that almost everyone got wrong.
19 of the 22 PoTY players lived in Chapel Hill or Carrboro (ie: District 1), so it's no surprise that the two elections we got wrong were the ones in which we couldn't vote. Given that the two harder-to-call races were both in District 2, I figured the PoTY would likely be someone from the northern or rural parts of the county. I was right and wrong, read on...
To the right is a graphic showing everyone's predictions (without names).
CC, At-Large. All but one of us predicted correctly that Barry Jacobs would win this race. In fact, a majority of us also got the finishing order right.
CC. District 2. Most of us got this wrong, with only 27% correctly putting Earl McKee in the top slot. Since he only won by 90 votes (in the unofficial tally) I don't feel too bad about getting this wrong.
Sheriff. Most of us (82%) knew that Sheriff Pendergrass is a juggernaut that cannot be stopped. ;-) After 28 years, it would have taken a lot to defeat him.
OC School Board. Here's where we really showed our ignorance of what goes on outside Chapel Hill and Carrboro. However, in our defense School Board issues are notoriously hard to follow and there were a lot of candiates. Only 4 of us predicted the winners correctly and none of us got the order right.
The Republicans of the 4th Congressional District surprised everyone by nominating Frank Roche instead of BJ Lawson to run against David Price in the fall. This is barely worth mentioning except that one of us not only predicted the right winner, but also the order of the 4 candidates! What do you know about Republicans that the rest of us don't, Rickie White? ;-)
This Congressional Primary will not be counted into the PoTY calculations. Which means that... drumroll please...
The Pundits of the Year are Keith Coleman (News of Orange General Manager) and Mia Burroughs (Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board Member)! Congrats! They'll each be getting a $25 gift certificate to the OP store, or a free drink at every OP happy hour for the next year (their choice).
Issues:
Comments
NC-4 (R)
You should note that the Repugs of the NC-4 district did not nominate Roche. Only the OC ones voted for him. Lawson is the overall nominee.