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Rockingham resident Ben Moss defeated Joey Davis in the Republican primary for N.C. House of Representatives District 66, which encompasses Richmond, Montgomery and a small portion of Stanly. He will next face Democratic incumbent Rep. Scott Brewer in November.

 

While Moss actually lost in Stanly, receiving 424 votes to Davis’ 553, and in Montgomery, he won by such a wide margin in Richmond — gaining more than 80 percent of the vote — that he was able to secure the victory. In total, Moss received 3,582 votes to Davis’ 2,735.

Davis carried all four of the Stanly precincts and also won early voting by a slim margin of 193 votes to Moss’ 180.

“I’m just very thankful for all the support I’ve gotten,” Moss said.

“We ran a pretty close campaign there in Stanly, but he beat me really bad in Montgomery and, of course, I guess I returned the favor in Richmond County,” he said. “We had a good turnout in Richmond and I’m blessed because that really helped me get over the hump.”

Moss, who is a Richmond county commissioner, plans to visit Stanly and Montgomery as much as possible in the coming months to familiarize himself with residents before the general election in November. He thinks his numbers in those counties were low simply because people did not know enough about him.

While Davis was appreciative of his support in Stanly and Montgomery, he said there was simply “too many voters in Richmond County to overcome.”

“He has the political experience down there (in Richmond) and it gave him the margin and there’s just no way to get past that,” said Davis, who lives in Star.

The results are unofficial but will be fully determined during the official canvas on Friday, March 13.

Contact reporter Chris Miller at 704-982-2122.