With his hometown safety net of Lumberton ripped away from him by redistricting, incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre appears to have won a ninth term by a slim margin over Republican challenger David Rouzer. The new district for U.S. House District 7 includes Rouzer’s home base of Johnston County, Bladen County, Columbus County, Hoke County, New Hanover County and a part of Cumberland County. Bladen County went for McIntyre by a 10,839 to 5,409 margin.
Unofficial totals show that McIntyre took 50 percent of the votes, while Rouzer had 49.9 percent — with a margin of only about 400 votes between the two, which means the outcome may not get decided until after a recount. A total of 330,000 votes were cast in the race.
Tuesday’s voting represents the closest battle of McIntyre’s re-election career. In 1996, McIntyre made his first run for the position and, after winning a runoff election, he defeated Bill Caster by garnering 52 percent of the vote. His next closest contest was in 2010, when he faced Ilario Pantano and took 54 percent. State law gives Rouzer the opportunity to call for a recount if the margin is less than 1 percent.
Full Article: The Bladen Journal – Recount looms for McIntyre Rouzer.