Clockwise, from top left: Charles Taylor, Brad Knott, Paul Barringer, Jim Burgin and Tanya White Anderson all won primary races Tuesday night and will advance to the general election in November.

By Gordon Anderson | gordon@rantnc.com

Sanford City Councilman Charles Taylor won a decisive victory over Lee County Board of Education Chair Sherry Womack in the Republican primary for Lee County’s seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives on Tuesday, taking the GOP nomination for the seat with 54 percent of the vote.

Taylor, who has held the city council’s Ward 2 seat since 2007, got 3,000 votes overall to Womack’s 2,530. He’ll face Democrat Tashera Nichols McDuffie and unaffiliated candidate April Montgomery in the fall. House District 51 covers all of Lee County and part of eastern Moore, and the Civitas Partisan Index rates it R+11, or “safe Republican.”

Taylor won the Lee County portion of the district handily, with 2,143 votes (60.28 percent) to Womack’s 1,412 (39.72 percent). Moore County went for Womack 1,127-857 (56.8-43.2 percent), but not by enough to make up for the difference in Lee.

Other Lee County primaries:

*Incumbent Jim Burgin defeated former Harnett County Commissioner Tim McNeill with 76 percent of the vote (7,378-2,339) in the Republican primary for North Carolina Senate District 12. On the Democratic side, 2024 nominee Tanya White Anderson topped challenger Jheri Hardaway 67-32 (6,417-3,069). Burgin, who has held the seat since 2018, will face Anderson in the fall. Senate District 12 covers Lee and Harnett counties and part of Sampson County. It’s rated by the Civitas Partisan Index as R+9, or “likely Republican.”

*Incumbent Representative Brad Knott appeared poised with nearly a third of the vote reported to turn back a primary challenge from fellow Republican Sid Sharma for North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District with almost 91 percent. On the Democratic side, Sanford native Paul Barringer had more than 60 percent of the vote for his party’s nomination with the same precints reported. If the leads hold, Barringer and Knott will square off in the fall for the seat, which all of Lee, Harnett, Johnston, Franklin, Person, and Caswell counties, and parts of Wake and Granville counties. The Cook PVI report for 2025 lists NC-13 as R+9, or “solid Republican.”

Lee County had 7,098 voters cast ballots in the primary, or 17.37 percent of those eligible.