A unified effort between three incumbent Roanoke Rapids school board members and an incumbent city councilman may have helped them overwhelmingly gain office Tuesday evening.
Valencia Davis, Henry Ford, and Mike Salanik pooled their resources with District 1 city Councilman Rex Stainback.
According to unofficial returns, Stainback collected 71.49 percent of the votes against second-place challenger Robbie Clements, who collected 21.38 percent and third-place finisher Jacob Dean, who collected 6.08 percent of the votes.
In the school board race Salanik collected 27.51 percent, Ford 25.78 percent, and Davis 23.02 percent.
Fourth-place finisher Carlton Ansley ended the evening out of contention, collecting 13.42 percent while David Pericak collected 9.36 percent of the votes in an election that saw 12.93 percent of the county’s 17,248 voters go to the polls.
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“This is my first race. I’ve learned a lot in the two years that I’ve been on the city council,” Stainback said today. “Last night I was just totally overwhelmed by the support this city has shown in me. I’m just elated.”
Asked about the effort to join forces, Stainback said, “We’re all like-minded. We want what’s best for our area. I think we all put integrity really high. We all just decided that we would run together. We all had confidence in each other and I think it worked out really well.”
Stainback said going into his next term one of his biggest goals is to make the quality of life in Roanoke Rapids better. “I would like to see our parks in better shape.”
He also said he would like to see the city’s public safety departments up to where they need to be as far as positions. “We have entirely too many openings in both of those departments and other departments as well. I think one of the keys to making that happen is to get this entertainment district expanded. I think that would be the shot in the arm that would help more than anything I can think of right now — to get back to where we were before the theater.”
Davis said, “I’m happy that the public has allowed me another opportunity to serve on the school board and I’m hoping to continue the mission, the vision of the school system.”
She said of the unified effort, “We knew how to work together with each other and we wanted to continue that effort. We did know that the four of us work well together so we felt it was a good decision to put a PAC together.”
Davis said the school system is moving forward with initiatives in CTE. “We are building some really good community partnerships that are going to bridge the school and community together more than it is right now.”
She said the CTE drive gives students the opportunity to stay in the community and thrive.
Ford said, “I am very pleased with the results of last night’s election and the confidence the voters showed in me. I look forward to continuing to serve the students, staff and faculty of the Roanoke Rapids Graded School District.”
Of the unified effort between the incumbent school board members and the incumbent city council member, Ford said, “I believe the results of that effort speak for itself.”
Salanik did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Uncontested council races
Incumbent District 2 Councilwoman Sandra Bryant will retain her seat. She collected 476 votes to 27 write-ins.
Warren Keith Bell was elected to the District 3 seat held by longtime Councilman Carl Ferebee, who opted to not seek another term.
Bell collected 49 votes to two write-ins.
