Jeff Tarte
Updated July 18, 2012 at 2:15 p.m.
Edging out Huntersville business owner John Aneralla by just about 200 votes, according to unofficial results, Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte won the second primary election July 17 and will represent District 41 in the N.C Senate. Tuesday’s runoff vote between the two came after a close finish in the primary May 8 – and again, the men finished neck and neck, with less than three percent of the vote separating them.
Mayor Tarte will represent a new district covering Davidson, Cornelius, Huntersville, Matthews Mint Hill and parts of southeast Charlotte.
He and Mr. Aneralla were the top vote getters in the Republican Primary race May 8, beating three other candidates, but neither got the 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. The men campaigned aggressively leading up to Tuesday’s election, which doubles as a final election: There are no challengers on the November ballot in the race.
Click to see the election results by precinct, on meckboe.org
In a press release sent Tuesday night, Mr. Aneralla said: “No candidate had a stronger grassroots organization than we did, unfortunately it wasn’t enough. I want to thank all of the voters across the district that supported my campaign, and I look forward to finding different avenues to getting North Carolina’s struggling economy back on track.”
Mayor Tarte has lived in Cornelius for more than 20 years and is serving his third term as mayor. He is a management consultant and a former partner with Ernst and Young. Mr. Aneralla has lived in Huntersville for 15 years and owns Bulldog Asset Management, an investment advisory firm. He also is a former chairman of the Mecklenburg County Republican Party.
OTHER RESULTS
Around 9 p.m., News 14, WBTV and some other news outlets began reporting that 9th congressional district candidate Jim Pendergraph had conceded to Robert Pittenger. (Related article on the Charlotte Observer: Pendergraph concedes District 9 race). Unofficial state poll results show Mr. Pittinger won by more than 2,000 votes – or about 6 percent. Mr. Pittenger will face Democrat Jennifer Roberts and Libertarian Curtis Campbell in the fall.
Also on the Republican ballot:
- John Tedesco beat Richard Alexander for N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction
- Dan Forest beat Tony Gurley for N.C. Lieutenant Governor
- Mike Causey beat Richard Morgan for N.C. Commissioner of Insurance
- Ed Goodwin beat Kenn Gardner for N.C. Secretary of State
And on the Democratic ballot:
- John C. Brooks beat Marlowe Foster for N.C. Commissioner of Labor
Click here to view the unofficial results on the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections website.
Click here to view the unofficial results on the State Board of Elections website.
