ROWAN COUNTY — Incumbents Mike Caskey and Craig Pierce won the Republican primary, jumping through the first hurdle in their bids for reelection to the Rowan County Board of Commissioners.

Caskey and Pierce were challenged in the Republican primary by Angie Spillman, Jonathan Barbee and Dillon Brewer, although Brewer announced prior to the election that he would be withdrawing from the race and remaining in his position as a Rockwell alderman.

In the end, Caskey took first place in the five-person race handedly with 36.7 percent of the vote. Pierce came in second with 20.44 percent of the votes.

“It feels pretty good and I appreciate the voters being willing to keep me on the ballot through the general election. I’m looking forward to the fall and hopefully I can come back for another term,” Caskey said.

Caskey received 10,249 votes and Pierce received 5,709 votes. Spillman came in a close third with 5,407 votes, Barbee received 4,698 votes and Brewer received 1,865 votes.

“I’m glad that the citizens of Rowan County voted for me and chose me as a Republican. I’m looking forward to the November election and hopefully I can get through it and continue to serve as a commissioner,” Pierce said.

Caskey said that he believed his winning the nomination indicated that the voters of Rowan County were satisfied with the direction that the current commissioners were heading.

“Overall, I think this means that people are satisfied with the direction of things and I just want to keep that going,” Caskey said.

Caskey and Pierce will now move on to the general election in November, where they will face off with Democratic challengers Alissa Redmond and Shameka Jackson. The Democratic party did not require a primary because there were only two candidates running for the two open seats.

Looking at both the primary and general elections, Caskey noted that he wanted to thank everyone for being willing to serve the voters and government of Rowan County.

“I want to say I’m grateful to everyone on the great race and I’m thankful to everyone for their willingness to serve” Caskey said.