The election of Republican Bill Whiteheart over Democratic incumbent Ted Kaplan is likely to steer the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners in a more conservative direction.
Incumbent Republican Commissioner Debra Conrad easily bested Stan Dean, her Democratic challenger.
The result: a GOP board majority that grows from 4-3 to 5-2. In District A, incumbent Democrat Walter Marshall and Democratic newcomer Everette Witherspoon had no opposition, but they will be the only two Democrats on the county board.
According to complete but unofficial returns, Whiteheart had 48,605 votes to Kaplan’s 45,124. Whiteheart’s victory margin — amounting to almost four percentage points — was well over the edge of one percentage point that Kaplan would need for a recount.
Conrad received 46,386 votes to 26,701 for Dean.
Whiteheart and Kaplan were not available for comment last night. But Conrad said that it is clear the board will be more conservative, although she tried to dispel any thought that the board might be less friendly to job-growth measures involving economic incentives. Whiteheart, who calls himself a small-business advocate, has opposed most economic incentives as “corporate welfare.”
But if a deal such as the Pepsi expansion comes again — which Conrad opposed — a more conservative board might reject incentive offers.
Certainly Whiteheart, who served on the board from 2004 to 2008, and Kaplan have been on opposite sides of some hot-button issues. And perhaps no button is hotter than the issue of sectarian prayers before board meetings. That issue now stands before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to determine whether such prayers violate the First Amendment prohibition against government endorsement of religion.
Whiteheart’s addition to the board may create a solid majority in favor of future appeals involving sectarian prayer. That’s because the board voted 4-3 to have the conservative Alliance Defense Fund fight the case for the county, when Kaplan and Whiteheart were on the board.
Although the board has voted to continue fighting the prayer suit with Republican Dave Plyler on the board. Plyler’s support has always appeared more conditional than that of the other GOP members. Now, a majority can support prayer appeals whether Plyler goes along or not.
Some commissioners were saying last night that it is too soon to say who will be leading the new board, but Conrad noted that one of Whiteheart’s campaign issues was giving the board more conservative leadership.
Nathan Tabor, the chairman of the Forsyth County Republican Party, said he thinks that the race between Whiteheart and Kaplan came down to principles.
“I think the voters want someone in that seat who is going to have fiscal conservative principles,” Tabor said.
wyoung@wsjournal.com
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