Real estate agent Henry Tyson came out on top in the Republican primary for the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, uncertified election results show.
Tyson received 23.48% of the votes with 7,080 ballots, while Peter Pappas received 18.24% of the votes (5,499 ballots) and Pavan Patel received 15.05% of votes (4,538 ballots), according to results from the State Board of Elections.
Three seats will be up for grabs in November’s general election.
Tyson told CityView on Tuesday that he believed he performed well because his messaging resonated with the community.
“We had a solid base of support,” Tyson said. “At least in Dist. 2, [voters] want to see some fiscal responsibility, and they want to see government working for them.”
Tyson said he will continue to focus on addressing GenX contamination as he looks to the November race.
“I think issue number one has to be getting clean, safe drinking water to our whole county,” he said. “It’s something that has been dragging behind and something that our current board and previous board hasn’t adequately addressed, and it’s got to get done.”
Tyson credited retiring Commissioners Jimmy Keefe and Michael Boose for their service to the community and thanked his wife and family for their support.
“I couldn’t have gotten my message out without them,” he said.
Pappas said he was “relieved” by the results, noting he had “somersaults” in his stomach as he watched the results come in Tuesday night.
“My good turnout is due to the hard work of myself and the people around me this campaign, as opposed to last time, when I was a lone wolf [running] for [Fayetteville] City Council and I took 40% of the vote,” he said. “This time, I was smart enough to ask for people to help me, which is hard for me to do. So I overcame some personal reservations of asking for help.”
Looking to November’s race, Pappas said he will evaluate the feedback he’s received thus far and adjust his campaign accordingly.
“Anything that I say or publish is not written by a fancy copywriter,” he said. “It’s me doing the homework to say, ‘This is what I know about [a subject], this is how much I need to learn about it and this is where I’m going to get to.’ I’m very confident that I’m probably the sole, if not one of the few candidates, that just do that. I’m not trying to regurgitate GOP talking points.”
Patel told CityView he believes voters resonated with his experience and his campaign issues, such as PFAS contamination in the water supply and growing Cumberland County’s infrastructure.
“I’m not a politician; I’m an honest person who cares about the community,” he said. “I think if you look at the folks who have come out and volunteered, they’re from all sorts of backgrounds.”
Strange could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
This story will be updated as more information comes in.
Reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500.
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