Of the three most populated areas of the state, Guilford County will arguably have the most exciting county commissioner primaries. Four of the nine districts (Districts 4, 5, 7 and 8)are up this year as are the only two at-large seats. Yes, Guilford is the ONLY county in the state of NC with 11 commissioner seats. All other counties have 9 or less.
District 4 has three GOP challengers vying for the opportunity to challenge C.F. “Kirk” Perkins III in the November election. Carl Allen is one of the three challengers and has started an interesting website called “nomoreclowns.com” which points to some of the more interesting antics of the current commissioner. He is currently a PA. Marcus Kindly is another GOP challenger who is the founder of Inter Carolina Financial Services. He has served in a number of leadership posts with the GOP including chairing the county party. Co-hosting a radio show called “Straight Talk” on WGOS 1070 is yet another of his name recognition credentials. The final challenger in the July 20 primary for the 4th is Eddie Souther. A salesman with Stock Building Supply, Souther is also very active in the community and his church. Though politically active, all three are newcomers to elected body politics. Kindley will be the one to watch in this race.
District 5 has the most animated race to watch. It features current incumbent and lightning rod Billy Yow against former Pleasant Garden Mayor and Town Councilman Bill Wright. Yow is renowned for his outbursts at commissioner meetings where he has crossed paths with the NAACP, various staff and political types. But this barely scratches the surface with Yow. His contentious attitude towards the school system and others create a “love him or hate him” mentality. He isn’t afraid of a good fight and will do so for the sake of saving taxpayer money.
Both candidates describe themselves as “conservatives”. Wright, however, is running as a more pragmatic leader hoping his more professional style will trump Yow’s confrontational style.
Yow has high-name idea, but it comes at a price and Wright’s experience in putting together a town from scratch and serving as a likeable leader may make this one too close to call.
District 7 has some interesting turns and twists as well. Current GOP incumbent Mary Rakestraw is facing newcomer Mike Winstead. The winner will face current “at-large” democratic commissioner Mike Barber. Barber has decided to run as a district challenger. Some believe this is meant to allow for the current 6-5 Democra led board the possibility of tilting even more Democratic. Jim Capo is the lone Libertarian in the Guilford races and does have good business experience having founded the company whose expansion led him to Greensboro.
Winstead is a savvy businessman who has created two companies, Mega Wash and Mega Builders, but Rakestraw’s community volunteerism and higher name ID do give her a significant edge here. Both seem to understand their issues, but this race will probably be the one that ultimately decides the leadership of the Guilford board in November.
The District 8 seat is currently held by Skip Alston, who is also the chief director of the NC NAACP (hence the tangles with Yow). He faces no opposition.
In the At-Large races there are five GOP and three Democratic challengers all vying for the two top slots in their respective primaries.
The GOP ticket features former county manager Roger Cotton whose service to the board he hopes will propel him through the primaries. First term incumbent Trudy Wade is also on the ticket. Three additional candidates are also running.
Real estate broker, Joe Rahenkamp is also running. He has made four attempts in the past to win a seat on the Greesnboro City Council, unsuccessfully. IT engineer Dwayne Crawford and political newcomer Doug Parrish are also running.
For the GOP primary, Cotton and Wade are the odds on favorites.
In the Democratic primary, business owner and veteran Paul Gibson will be facing tax professional and community volunteer Millie Hoffler-Foushee. Both have a variety of experience on local boards and community activity.
Former County Commissioner and School Board member John Parks is also running in the Democratic primary. With twelve years of elected experience, his depth of community experience and higher name ID almost guarantee him a win on July 20.
The primary season in the Guilford County Commission race is truly something to watch, but the real fireworks will begin in the Fall when the battle for control truly begins. In each of the past four years, the county budget has been decided strictly along party lines.