Cumberland County Board of Commissioners: 3 GOP candidates advance to general election

Peter Pappas, Pavan Patel and Henry Tyson will advance to the Nov. 5 general election, where they will face three Democrats for seats on the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners, according to unofficial election results.

Three of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners District 2 seats are on the ballot this year. One of those is currently held by first-term Democratic incumbent Toni Stewart. Commissioners Jimmy Keefe and Michael Boose, who also represent District 2, have terms expiring in December and did not seek reelection.  

According to unofficial results from the North Carolina Board of Elections, Tyson led the votes with 7,080 or 23.49% of the votes, followed by Pappas with 5,409 or 18.24%. Patel came in third with 4,538 or 15.05%.

Full NC results2024 North Carolina Primary Election Results

The winners

Tyson is a realtor whose previous bid for Fayetteville City Council was unsuccessful in 2017.

Pappas, who owns a chain of delis and serves on the Fayetteville-Cumberland Human Relations Commission, unsuccessfully ran for the Fayetteville City Council District 6 seat in 2022.

Patel is CEO of Willow Group Investments and has served on the Cumberland County Tourism Development Authority, Fayetteville Millennial Advisory Commission and Methodist University Foundation Board.

Other candidates

The following candidates came up short in the Republican primary.

Jonathan Strange is a local attorney and former chairman of the Cumberland County Republican Party and made an unsuccessful run for the 12th District Court Judicial District's Seat 6. He came in fourth, receiving 3,402 votes, or 11.3% of the total, according to unofficial results.

Ron Ross is executive director of the Boys & Girls Center of Lumberton and previously ran for the Board of Commissioners in 2020 and 2022. He came in fifth with 3,302 votes, or 10.1%, according to unofficial results.

Jeremy Stanley is a business owner . He came in sixth with 2,468 votes, or 8.2%, according to unofficial results.

Venus De la Cruz is a local bridal shop owner and wife of former Fayetteville mayoral candidate Freddie de la Cruz, who is running for House District 44. She came in seventh, receiving 2,164 votes, or 7.2%, according to unofficial election results.

V. Lee Spruill is a workforce development program manager for Blue Ridge Power and was previously a principal and assistant principal at several Cumberland County schools. Spruill came in eighth with 1,966 votes, or 6.5%, according to unofficial results.