Unaffiliated candidate April Montgomery appears to have narrowly defeated Republican Charles Taylor in the race for North Carolina’s House District 51.
With all 14 District 51 precincts reporting, Montgomery had 13,919 votes to Taylor’s 13,537, or 50.7 percent to 49.3. House District 51 covers all of Lee County and part of Moore.
Montgomery won Lee County 11,320-8,881. Taylor, a member of the Sanford City Council, won Moore County 4,656-2,599. Should the result hold, Montgomery will replace Republican Rep. John Sauls, who didn’t seek re-election in 2026.
Results are unofficial until county elections officials complete their canvasses.
“I got into this race because I believed we needed something different in our politics,” Montgomery told The Rant Tuesday night. “Tonight, we showed that the people of Lee and Moore County agreed with us. We need more leaders who are beholden to the people they serve more than a political party. I look forward to serving the people of this district and I thank everyone who came together in this effort.”
In Senate District 12, Republican incumbent Jim Burgin was ahead of Democrat Tanya White Anderson with 51.6 percent to Anderson’s 48.4, with one District 12 precinct left to report. Senate District 12 includes all of Lee and Harnett counties, and part of Sampson.
Democrat Jamey Laudate defeated incumbent Republican Eric Davidson in the District 4 race for the Lee County Board of Commissioners, giving Democrats control of the board for the first time in several years.
Laudate, a former member of the Lee County Board of Education, defeated Davidson with 4,026 votes, or 59.3 percent, to Davidson’s 2,763 . Democrat Robert Reives (District 1) defeated Republican challenger Louis Williams with 77 percent of the vote, and Republican Kirk Smith (District 2) turned back unaffiliated write-in challenger Jonathan Boyce with 57 percent of the vote. Republican Andre Knecht (District 3) didn’t have a challenger.
Laudate will join Reives and at-large commissioners Mark Lovick and Cameron Sharpe to form a new 4-3 Democratic majority.
In the race for three seats on the Lee County Board of Education, the only Democrat on the ballot finished comfortably ahead of the field.
Former board member Patrick Kelly will return to the board after winning 12,403 votes. Republicans Laura Styffeler (10,059 votes) and Alan Rummel (9,545) finished second and third, respectively. Republican Karla Koballa finished fourth with 9,473 votes – just 72 shy of Rummel. The top three vote-getters in the school board race won seats.