Former Superior Court Judge Jerry Tillett appeared to win Tuesday’s Republican primary in the 1st Senate District, which spans several northeastern counties, despite allegations that he’d made racist remarks in an audio recording.
Tilletwas one of four Republicans campaigning for the solidly red seat held by Bobby Hanig, who vacated it to make a bid for Congress.
Tillett’s leading opponent was Jay Lane, an Elizabeth City farmer who is backed by top Republicans, including Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler and state Sen. Bill Rabon. Gates County Commissioner Dave Forsythe and Marine veteran Cole Johnson rounded out the field. With all precincts reporting Tuesday night, Tillett finished with 37.9% of the vote, followed by Lane with 31.6%, Forsythe with 15.8%, and Johnson with 14.7%.
Tillet has battled allegations of racism that had threatened to derail his state Senate campaign. As The Assembly previously reported, Dare County resident Richard Burrus posted a 23-second audio clip to Facebook in December that seemed to capture a conversation between two men and a woman inside a car. The two men used the N-word and joked about shooting a Black man; Burrus wrote that one of the voices belonged to Tillett, which the candidate has denied.
The Assembly obtained the same audio from a different source and later interviewed the person who claimed to have recorded the conversation in 2016. That person—who asked for anonymity, fearing retribution—said the three voices belonged to Tillett, his wife, and his son, Jeremy.
Last month, Tillett filed a defamation lawsuit against his former daughter-in-law, her new husband, a website publisher, and Burrus. Among other claims, Tillett’s suit specifically accuses Briana Daniels, who was previously married to Jeremy Tillet, and her new husband, Theodore Daniels, of publishing “to one or more persons false and defamatory statements by asserting that [Tillett’s] voice was the one making racial statements” in the recording.
The complaint does not say where, when, or to whom the alleged statements were made. Theodore Daniels was defeated in the Dare County sheriff primary on Tuesday.