Black vote proved key [Commissioners
^^^^^H made on it." first run for nffipp
in commissioners race
Without overwhelming support in
I the predominantly black precincts in
I. Greensboro and High Point, Democrats J. Douglas Galyon and Paul
Gibson II would not have won their
seats on the Guilford County Board
of Commissioners in Tuesday's election.
And even with the heavy
straight-ticket voting, the Democrats barely escaped the Republican
wave that gave opponents William
Anderson and Jacqueline Manzi all
but two rural precincts, most of
High Point and 18 precincts in
northwest and southwest Greensboro.
After the initial count, Manzi led
the field with a 34-vote margin over
Gibson. Her first-place finish eva-"
porated Thursday in the official
A tabulating error in Bruce pre- j
cinct cost Manzi 1,038 votes, which
was partly recouped by a 200-vote
error in her favor at Precinct No. 35
in north Greensboro. In the end, her
34-vote victory became a 200-vote
loss to Gibson, the second-place finisher, and Galyon, the eventual top
vote-getter.
Manzi and Anderson have until 6 I
p.m. today to file a formal request
for a recount with C. Richard Tate,
the High Point Democrat who heads
the elections board.
Asked why he failed in such a
good year for Republicans, Anderson said, "The only thing that beat I
me was the black vote. I wonder I
how much money George Simkins f
Greensboro News & Record,
Saturday, Nov. 10, 1984
made <
Simkins, a Greensboro dentist
and head of the local chapter of the
NAACP, said Anderson's comment
wasn't worth dignifying with a response.
Simkins said a new political action
committee he formed, Greensboro
Citizens PAC, endorsed both Galyon and Gibson along with two Republican judge candidates, William
Daisy and Ed Lowe, and Kay Pat-
seavouras, the Republican register
| of deeds.
Simkins said he left the Greens-
I boro Citizens Association, his for-
I mer political endorsing vehicle,
I because of in-fighting. The associa-
I tion made no endorsements in the
| election, said Minnie Feaster, chair-
n of its political action commit-
| tee.
Although the impact of the sever-
I al endorsing groups in southeast
I Greensboro is unclear, the impor-
I tance of the black vote for the two
| Democrats is obvious.
Galyon, who also benefitted from
I heavy black voter support in the
I spring primary, garnered 14,331
I votes in the eight precincts in south-
I east Greensboro and the four cen-
I tral High Point precincts. Gibson
I got 14,521 votes. Black support in
I these precincts amounted to 27 per-
I cent of their Greensboro support
I and one-third of their High Point
| votes.
Anderson got 1,451 votes in the
I 12 precincts, which was less than 3
I percent of his total vote. Manzi
I drew only 1,293 votes, or 2.4 per-
I cent of her total, from the two loca-
| tions.
Gibson's backing from Simkins'
J PAC suggests that political strug-
I gles can come full circle. In 1982,
I Simkins took the lead in fighting the
I re-election of his father, then-Sheriff Paul Gibson. Black support
I helped James Proffitt unseat the
| four-term sheriff.
The lack of black support threw
| the younger Gibson, making his
From PI |
first run for office, into a primary I
runoff last June against Charles I
Lambeth, the Greensboro school I
board member who had the organ- f
ized black support.
In Greensboro, Galyon was the I
top vote-getter with 32,662, fol- '
lowed by Gibson at 31,029, Manzi at I
22,738 and Anderson at 20,402.
But if the eight predominantly I
black precincts are removed for pur- f
poses of analysis, the order revers- I
es. Manzi won the remaining part of I
Greensboro with 21,445, followed by I
Anderson at 18,951, Galyon at 18,-
141 and Gibson at 16,508.
In all, Manzi won 14 Greensboro I
precincts outside the southeastern I
section of the city, Anderson 5, Gal- I
yon 7 and Gibson 2.
In the rural precincts, the I
straight-ticket voting and solid sup- I
port for Republicans mirrored Dem- I
ocratic straight-ticket voting in the I
black precincts.
Anderson won 21 of 26 county I
precincts, running up a total vote of I
19,516. Manzi followed with 18,832.
Perhaps benefitting from his father's old organization and name I
recognition, Gibson had 12,347, and I
Galyon, the former Greensboro City I
Council member, finished last with I
10,989.
Development issues — the pace I
and type of development in northwest Guilford and whether develop- I
ers have too much influence over I
the current board — may have I
played to the Republicans advan- "
tage.
Citizen protest at county commis-1
sioner and planning board meetings I
came from people living in Friend-1
ship 1 and 2 and South Center I
Grove. Republicans won the three I
precincts by 2-to-l margins. M
had 4,564 votes from the area,
derson 4,045, Galyon, 2,426 and I
Gibson 2,373.
In High Point, Anderson finished I
first with 10,800 votes to Manzi's |
9,358, Gibson's 9,174 and Galyon's
8,364.
