I hope all of the folks that make up the commercial fishing community know that we have had a special primary election last month for the Third Congressional District. The death of Walter B. Jones, Jr., a good friend of commercial fishermen, left a vacancy that needs to be filled.

As a result of the primary, Republicans Greg Murphy from Greenville and Joan Perry from Kinston will face a runoff on July 9th.

Democrat Allen Thomas won that primary and Tim Harris won the for the Libertarian Party. Constitution Party candidate Greg Holt did not have a primary. Once the Republicans choose their candidate, the winner will be decided when the General Election is held September 10th.

NCFA has done its best to keep the commercial fishing community informed by publicizing candidate forums, meet and greet and fund raisers for those candidates that let us know about their schedules. We don’t endorse candidates as an organization but do attempt to educate our members as much as we can, mainly through our updates sent each Friday. We also sent questionnaires about commercial fishing to candidates and the answers have been distributed through our weekly updates and published on social media.

The Third District Congressional seat is a very important one. Please make sure you make an educated choice on July 9th if you vote in the Republican primary, but definitely be present to place your ballot September 10th for the General Election. Don’t complain if you don’t participate!

Whether it be this race or other state or local elections, if you think protecting commercial fishing is important, you need to, at the very least, be registered to vote and cast your votes in an educated manner.