Winston-Salem primary election update

In other Winston-Salem City Council primary races Tuesday, Democratic incumbent Molly Leight handlily defeated challenger Wesley Hudson in the South Ward contest. Leight garnered 86 percent of the vote, which assures her of second term on the city council.

Denise "DD" Adams secured 43 percent of the vote in Winston-Salem's North Ward, defeating challengers S. Wayne Patterson and Phillip Carter. Patterson, a local attorney, garnered 31 percent of the vote, while Carter received 25 percent of the votes in the North Ward race.

Adams will face Republican John Hopkins in the Nov. 3 general election. Adams, 55, has worked on more than a dozen campaigns at the local, state and national level. She first tossed her hat in the political ring in 1990, losing her bid for NC House to Warren P. Odom by roughly 100 votes.

In other races, Democratic incumbent Vivian Burke easily held off challenger Sam Davis. Burke received 72 percent of the vote Tuesday, and will face Republican Claudia Shivers in the municipal general election.

In the Republican primary for the city's Northwest Ward, Peter Sorensen, an underwriter for WFDD-FM, garnered 53 percent of the vote, defeating challengers Jim Painter and Matthew Shelton. Sorensen will face Democratic incumbent Wanda Merschel in the general election.

In the Republican primary for the city's Southwest Ward, Ted Shipley defeated Donald T. Shaw in a big way, garnering 87 percent of the vote. Shipley will face Democratic incumbent Dan Besse in the Nov. 3 election.

Voter turnout proved to be exceptionally low for Tuesday's municipal primary election. Only 3,279 ballots were cast out of a pool of 89,816 registered voters in Winston Salem, equaling a voter turnout of 3.65 percent.