Before sending off my absentee ballot in March, I took photos of each side of the filled-in ballot so that I could remember who I voted for and compare my votes with the final results.
Contest
My Vote
Winning Candidate
Match
Presidential Preference
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Y
US Senate
Kay Hagan
Kay Hagan
Y
Governor
Bev Purdue
Bev Purdue
Y
Lieutenant Governor
Hampton Dellinger
Walter H. Dalton
N
Auditor
Beth A. Wood
Beth A. Wood
Y
Commissioner of Insurance
David C. Smith
Wayne Goodwin
N
Commissioner of Labor
Mary Fant Donnan
Mary Fant Donnan
Y
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Eddie Davis
June St. Clair Atkinson
N
Treasurer
Janet Cowell
Janet Cowell
Y
Court of Appeals Judge
James A. Wynn
James A. Wynn
Y
District Court of Appeals
Sam J. Ervin, IV
Sam J. Ervin, IV
Y
District Court Judge District 10
Anna Elena Worley
Anna Elena Worley
Y
Frankly, I'm quite pleased with 75% of my votes winning.
Strangely, the Commissioner of Labor contest was incredibly close. Of more than a million votes, the final breakdown was
Mary Fant Donnan
333688
27.56%
Ty Richardson
290926
24.03%
Robin Anderson
292002
24.12%
John C. Brooks
294111
24.29%
That's seriously close. Mary Fant Donnan won by fewer than 39,577 votes from the runner-up and only 42,762 votes from the candidate that got the fewest votes. Amazing!
Obama gave another one of his speeches. The first time we heard one of these, we were all amazed, but now it more like, "Yeah, so Picasso painted another masterpiece...ho..hum...".
Go Barack!