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State Representative Alma Adams of Greensboro won her party's nomination for the 12th Congressional District seat. She carried 43 percent of the vote, which put her above the 40 percent
needed to avoid a runoff in the crowded Democratic primary. The atmosphere was jubilant last night as dozens of supporters waited for Adams to arrive at a Greensboro restaurant. At just
after 9 o'clock, she walked in, smiling broadly. Adams, a retired educator, has the most political experience of the six Democrats who ran to replace former Congressman Mel Watt.
She's served in the state house for more than two decades and before that on the Greensboro City Council and the Guilford County School board. At 67, Adams was also the oldest
candidate. “We did it, we did it!" Adams says. "You know, together we did what they said couldn’t be done…we got over 40 percent in this primary vote. I am so proud of you.” One
of her supporters, Guilford County Commissioner Carolyn Coleman, says she's relieved that the race will not go to a runoff. “For all of us who worked, that means we don’t have to go
into another election, so to speak," Coleman says."So we’re excited about that.” Adams faces Republican Vince Coakley in the general election. Coakley defeated Leon Threatt in the
Republican primary by winning 78 percent of the vote. But Adams has a clear advantage. The 12th is a majority-minority district both President Obama and then-Congressman Watt won in 20-12
with nearly 80 percent of the vote. MALCOLM GRAHAM IN CHARLOTTE While Adams was claiming victory in Greensboro, in Charlotte, volunteers with Malcolm Graham's campaign were confused.
She was in the lead, but all of the votes in Mecklenburg County hadn't been counted yet. So more than an hour and a half after she claimed victory, he delivered a sort-of concession
speech. "Ms. Adams will probably be the leading vote-getter tonight and win the race tonight, but we'll see tomorrow morning whether or not she wins by 40 percent when the rest of
the ballots come in from Mecklenburg County," Grahams said. By the end of the night, nearly all precincts reported their results, showing Adams had indeed won the race. Graham won
about 24 percent of the total vote. He faced tough competition from fellow Charlotte residents – George Battle won 12.5 percent of the vote, Marcus Brandon won 8 percent of the vote, and
Curtis Osborne won 5 percent of the vote. Former Charlotte City councilman James Mitchell also grabbed five percent -- and _he wasn't even in the running_. His name was on the ballot,
but he dropped out of the race a few weeks ago because he couldn't raise enough money. Voter turnout was relatively low -- only 16 percent of eligible voters participated in this
election. Low turnout plus the Charlotte vote being split among so many candidates is what Walter Taylor, a volunteer with the Graham campaign, believes led to his candidate's loss.
"Everybody didn't get out and vote," Taylor says. "A lot of them don't know about the middle primaries to vote for congressmen and senators and stuff like that. We
just have to try harder the next time to get the people out to vote." Some of the few voters who did show up at the polls in Charlotte say they were overwhelmed by the number of
qualified candidates. Anton Shaw voted for Curtis Osborne at the Oasis Shrine Temple polling location in the University area. "I went to three debates and listened to the candidates for
the congressional seat," Shaw says. "And they all came across to me very qualified. And it was hard for me to make a decision till the day I actually voted." Rajive Patel of
Winston-Salem, the former mayor of East Spencer rounded out the race with just a little over one percent of the total vote.