RALEIGH — There is a rematch of sorts in the District 5 race between incumbent state Sen. Don Davis and Tony Moore, a former state senator, while the entry of Henry Williams II makes it a three-way race in the Democratic primary.

Davis and Moore were set to square off in 2012 until Moore’s residency in District 5 was challenged and upheld by the State Board of Elections. Davis won the seat by default, and then was unopposed in the general election.

The winner of the May 6 primary will face no Republican opposition in the general election and, barring a write-in or unaffiliated candidate in the fall, automatically will win the seat in what the North Carolina FreeEnterprise Foundation calls a strong Democratic district.

District 5 covers Greene and parts of Lenoir, Pitt, and Wayne counties. Its registered voters are 64.8 percent Democratic and 56 percent black. Despite the large Democratic voting majority, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Walter Dalton won just 52 percent of the vote in 2012, and President Obama won 55 percent.

Davis, who is seeking his third term, said ensuring public education provides quality results for students and teachers is his top priority. He is disappointed with the direction teacher pay has gone and he’d like to see the return of the pay supplement for teachers pursuing advanced degrees.

“I’ve had a lot of people voice their concerns about education,” Davis said. “Education is the pathway to our future, and it is something I am rallying around. The better educated our teachers are, the better they can teach, and they deserve the pay that goes along with that.”

Davis, the former mayor of Snow Hill, also said he expects government to answer to the people.

“People want responsive government,” Davis said. “I think there are a lot of ways government can be more lean and efficient and still be responsive.”

Moore served one term in the Senate in 2003-04 and has run numerous times since — some as a Democrat and some as a Republican. He said his party label is not a factor in his ability to work for the people of the district. He also has local government experience, serving on the Winterville Town Council.

Moore said he favors rolling back many of the policies instituted by the Republican-controlled legislature. He wants to reinstate teacher tenure, which was replaced with a system of annualized contracts, and find a better way to create more reasonable political districts in the state rather than leaving the majority party in the General Assembly fully in charge of drawing legislative and congressional districts.

“[Republicans have] hurt education overall,” Moore said of the General Assembly’s majority party.

One area of agreement Moore has with current policy is the pursuit of offshore oil and gas drilling here.

“If we have resources off the coast, we need to find ways to use them,” Moore said.

Williams said he entered the race entirely to take on the Republican agenda.

“We’ve had too many education cuts and voting changes that hurt the people,” Williams said. “I’ve been around a long time and seen a lot of things. The people deserve more than what they’re getting.”

Williams, who is retired, said he has run in previous legislative races for many of the same reasons.

Joe Johnson is a contributor to Carolina Journal.