Huffman wins close sheriff's race

Fewer than 500 votes separated Catawba County incumbent from Democratic challenger Steve Hunt

Each candidate won half the county's precincts; about 35% of registered voters cast ballots

Friday, November 10, 2006

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

A margin of less than 500 votes in one of the state's sturdiest Republican strongholds narrowly secured David Huffman's job Tuesday for one more term as Catawba County's GOP sheriff.

For a sheriff with six terms in office and a couple of messy political bouts behind him, the race against Steve Hunt, a formidable Democratic challenger and 30-year veteran of the Hickory Police Department, was hardly an easy win.

Each candidate won exactly half of the county's 40 precincts, and about 35 percent of registered Catawba County voters cast their ballots, which officials at the Board of Elections said was higher than expected.

Huffman knew, he said, that his challenger would likely take Hickory, where Hunt teaches criminal justice at Catawba Valley Community College and worked as a police officer for three decades.

And Hunt did just that, securing nearly all of the city's 22 precincts.

Hunt could not be reached for comment by Thursday morning.

Many voters said that, in addition to concerns about the national political climate, it was this year's hotly contested sheriff's race that brought them to the polls.

Hickory resident Martha Scott said she voted Tuesday because she worries about family values and wants her elected officials to represent that conservative view.

Although she said she's a staunch Republican, she also said she didn't vote a straight party ticket and picked Hunt as her candidate.

"I voted for the man who would do the best job," she said. "We went through the citizens' police academy (a public class on law enforcement) with him, and I love that man."

Hunt won 57 percent at the Highland precinct, where Scott and 705 voters cast their ballots.

But in Mountain View, less than six miles from downtown Hickory, Huffman dominated the polls, winning 56 percent of the vote. The same was true in other rural areas.

Betty Canupp voted at Mountain Grove Baptist Church, where Huffman secured 59 percent of the ballots cast. She said she always votes on a straight party ticket. Huffman, she said, has been running the Sheriff's Office well.

"He's done us a fantastic job for the last 24 years, and it will be a sad day when he isn't our sheriff," Canupp, 78, said.

Later Tuesday night, when the Board of Elections posted the first results - absentee, mail-in, and curbside ballots - it looked as though Hunt held a secure lead with 55 percent of the vote, to Huffman's 45 percent.

"Right out of the shoot, we were 1,000 in the hole," Huffman said of the race he expected to win by close to 2,000 votes. "We didn't think it'd be that close."

The results began trickling in, with Hunt monitoring from Hickory Dickory Dock amusement center on U.S. 70 and Huffman monitoring the incoming ballots at the Board of Elections.

As more ballots were counted, however, Huffman began inching closer to Hunt and, by 9:30 p.m., the pair each held 50 percent of the vote. The last posting, with all precincts reporting, announced unofficial results with Huffman winning, 51 percent, or 17,179 votes to Hunt's 49 percent, or 16,698 votes.

"When those boxes came in, we kind of took a sigh of relief," Huffman said.

Hunt, a newcomer to politics, ran on a platform that called for a new direction and encouraged voters to help revitalize the Sheriff's Office, which Huffman has run since 1982.

Though he said he isn't sure if he'll say in the political scene, Hunt told the Observer in October that talking to county residents about their concerns was inspirational.

"It never was so evident to me what people in this county wanted until I started visiting people," he said. "All people want is a safe place to live and raise their families."


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