More than half of Cape Fear-area races uncontested this election
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — As Election Day approaches, more than half of the races in the Cape Fear region have only one candidate on the ballot, raising questions about voter engagement and the challenges of running for local office.
New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon, Brunswick County Sheriff Brian Chism, and Columbus County Sheriff Bill Rogers are all incumbents running unopposed this election cycle.
They are among the candidates in 54% of Cape Fear-area races who face no opposition, leaving voters with no competing candidate to choose from in those contests.
UNCW political science professor Aaron King says unopposed races can frustrate some voters and may discourage them from heading to the polls.
“Competition is really important in a political system, in a democracy, right? The competition of ideas and two candidates saying, ‘No, I have a better way to do this,’ right, to give voters a choice. When you don’t have that competition, sometimes it can frustrate people to say, ‘Hey, I don’t really have a reason to go out to vote if the outcomes already been decided,'” said King.
Nelson Beaulieu, a political science professor at Cape Fear Community College, agrees that competition is essential to a healthy democracy. However, he says the financial and time commitments required to run for office can make it difficult for potential candidates to enter a race.
“Even your county commissioner races sometimes see six-figure, you know, fundraising, and they spend tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars on campaign ads, mailers, campaign infrastructure, so even these local races are often prohibitively expensive if you’re a teacher, a firefighter, if you’re a small-business owner, that’s before we even get into the time factor,” said Beaulieu.
Beaulieu also says the political makeup of a community can influence whether candidates decide to run. In areas that strongly favor one political party, potential challengers may be less likely to enter a race, making it more difficult to attract competition.
With so many local races uncontested this election cycle, the lack of challengers highlights the barriers candidates can face when seeking office — and the potential impact on voters who want a choice at the ballot box.
