Beth Dawson loses bid for another run on New Hanover County Commission

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — New Hanover County Commission Chair Beth Dawson lost her bid in the primary to be one of the Republicans on the November ballot.

Woody White, Patricia Kusek and Derrick Hickey beat Dawson. Hickey edged out the incumbent by fewer than 400 votes.

Dawson, who was voted to the commission in 2012, was just voted chair in December by fellow commissioners Jonathan Barfield and Rob Zapple, both Democrats. Their votes, combined with her vote, got her the position over Woody White.

The race for three county commission seats has been competitive in New Hanover County since the beginning.

Dawson said an anonymous political action committee called the Conservative Future Fund Inc. based in Raleigh personally attacked her through ads. Ads that said she abandoned conservative values and she put her interests above other conservatives.

Dawson said she thinks Woody White, Patricia Kusek and Jim Brumit helped spark these types of negative ads when they came out in February as a group to respond to her State of the County Address.