There’s a new sheriff in town!

A happy Sheriff-elect Danny Rogers and his wife, Ruthie Rogers, receive hearty congratulatory wishes from Lisa Johnson-Tonkins, Guilford Clerk of Court and Greensboro resident Howard Gaither.
Photo by Ivan S. Cutler/ Carolina Peacemaker

There’s a new sheriff in town!

Guilford County voters elected Democratic candidate, Danny Rogers to be the next Guilford County Sheriff Tuesday night. Rogers unseated longtime incumbent Sheriff BJ Barnes, ending his 24-year term as Sheriff. Barnes was first elected in 1994.

“I’m grateful and I’m very excited about this positive change we’re going to bring to Guilford County,” said Rogers, secured 52.58 percent of the votes to Barnes’ 47.42 percent. Tuesday marked the second election that Rogers challenged Barnes. In 2014, Barnes defeated Rogers 56 percent to 44 percent.

“I kept going out into the community and meeting the people where they were. I didn’t focus on the longevity of my opponent’s career. I focused on the issues in our community. At the end of the day, it’s not about he (Barnes) or myself, it’s about the community and what can we do to bring positive change to Guilford County.”

Rogers is a native of High Point, and previously worked as an officer in the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department and High Point Police Department. Rogers said his plan is to stick to his campaign promises to work on reducing crime, providing safer streets and neighborhoods, eliminating the flow of illegal drugs and guns entering communities, improve offender reentry programs and build trust and relationships between citizens and law enforcement officers. Sheriffs serve four-year terms.

“We’re going to put people who are already in the department into the best roles for them to serve, and we want to hire people who have a heart for the citizens of Guilford County,” he said.

Barnes could not be reached for comment.

Guilford County voters set a local record this year for early turnout in a midterm election with 100,713 ballots cast during the early voting period and more than 100,300 ballots cast on Election Day.

Michael Garrett (D) defeated incumbent Trudy Wade (R) while Ashton Clemmons (D) won her race against Troy Lawson, chairman of the Guilford County Republican Party.

Guilford County voters also returned incumbents Amos Quick (D), Jon Hardister (R), Pricey Harrison (D) and Cecil Brockman (D) to the N.C. House.
In the Guilford County (GC) Board of Commissioners District 2 race, incumbent Alan Perdue (R) won 53.4 percent of the vote, beating out Democrat opponent, Scott A. Jones, who garnered 46.6 percent of the vote.

Republican Commissioner Justin Conrad defeated Democratic challenger Tracy Lamothe in the GC Commissioners District 3 race. Conrad won 50.5 percent of the vote to Lamothe’s 49.5 percent.

Unopposed commissioners Melvin “Skip” Alston (District 8), Carolyn Q. Coleman (District 7), Carlvena Foster (District 1) and Kay Cashion (at-large) were also re-elected.

The Guilford County School Board of Education (BOE) District 6 race proved to be a rematch between Democrat Khem Irby, an after-school tutor and national president of Parents Across America, and incumbent Republican Wes Cashwell, a High Point business owner. Cashwell won the seat over Irby in 2016, but this year, Irby received 50.9 percent of the votes over Cashwell’s 49.1 percent of the vote.

“I worked hard to engage voters more and listened to parents and students’ concerns about what they want for the school district,” said Irby, who says she has a plan to continue to help build a strong network of businesses, community organizations and parents to help support the school district.

“I think it’s important for parents to understand that they can actually shape what kind of education they want for their children,” said Irby.
Board of Education District 4 incumbent Linda Welborn, a Republican, retained her seat against Democrat opponent Desiree Best. Welborn, who has served since 2012, received 51.9 percent of the vote and Best received 48.1 percent of the vote.

Republican incumbent Anita Sharpe kept her BOE District 2 seat with 53.1 percent of the vote, beating out the Democrat challenger, Greg Drumwright who took 46.9 percent of the vote.

Winston McGregor, the current Guilford County Board of Education at-large member won the seat with 60.1 percent of the votes over Republican challenger, Marc Ridgill, who received 39.9 percent of the votes. McGregor was selected by the Guilford County Democratic Party in July to complete former at-large member and BOE chairman Alan Duncan’s unexpired term. She was also selected to run as the at-large school board candidate in the 2018 General Election. McGregor serves as the Executive Director of The Guilford Education Alliance.

Incumbent Deena Hayes-Greene won the Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election. She will continue to serve as the BOE District 8 representative.

In the Guilford County judicial races, Democrat Lora Cubbage won the N.C. Superior Court District 18A seat over Democratic opponent Mark Cummings, a District Court Judge. Cubbage was serving as a District Court Judge when she was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper to fill the unexpired term of Judge Patrice Hinnant in October. Cubbage has served as an Assistant District Attorney in Guilford County, an Assistant Attorney General of North Carolina from 2011-2016, and was one of Guilford County’s 14 District Court Judges from 2016-2018.

Superior Court Judge William “Bill” Wood (D) won the N.C. Superior Court District 18D seat with 58.4 percent of the vote compared to Democratic opponent Gavin Reardon’s 41.6 percent of the vote.

Democrat challenger, Larry Archie garnered 57.6 percent of the vote over Republican incumbent Jonathan G. Kreider,. who received 42.4 percent of the vote for the N.C. District Court Judicial Seat 2. Archie has worked as an attorney for the past 12 years and serves as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard.

Chief District Judge Tom Jarrell (N.C. District Court Seat 1) and Superior Court Judge Joe Craig (N.C. Superior Court) both ran unopposed.

Guilford County District Attorney, Avery Crump and Clerk of Court, Lisa Johnson-Tonkins both won their primaries, and were unopposed in the General Election.

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