County

County Commissioner, Pitt County

District 05

Vote for: 1
Term: 4 years
Candidates: 2
Election: Nov 3, 2026

What this office does: A county commissioner is one of the members of the board that adopts the county budget, sets the property tax rate and oversees county government.

Elected by the district's voters (State Board March 3, 2026 primary precinct results, other seats of the same board).

Candidates Compare by issue

Dennis McLawhorn

Democratic

Sales representative, Woodmen Life Insurance

The gist

Supports good jobs, smart growth and education
Supports helping Pitt Community College and East Carolina University

More about Dennis

View sources (1)

Supports good jobs, smart growth and education
New faces vie for state, local offices in '26 races
News coverage · The Daily Reflector · Dec 26, 2025 · reflector.com
“McLawhorn said if elected, he would like to fight for good jobs, smart growth and education.”
Supports helping Pitt Community College and East Carolina University
New faces vie for state, local offices in '26 races
News coverage · The Daily Reflector · Dec 26, 2025 · reflector.com
“I really do think that we need to have a well-educated public”

Mark C. Smith

RepublicanIncumbent

Director, North Carolina Driving School; Pitt County commissioner

The gist

Voted to deny a 236-acre solar farm rezoningIn office
Voted to seek bids for a new county administration buildingIn office

In office = from the candidate's own official statements or legislation as an officeholder, not their campaign.

More about Mark

View sources (2)

Voted to deny a 236-acre solar farm rezoning
Pitt commissioners vote 5-3 against solar farm rezoning
News coverage · The Daily Reflector · Mar 19, 2026 · reflector.com
“Perkins-Williams, Brown, Holloman, Smith and Weaver voted to deny the request”
Voted to seek bids for a new county administration building
Pitt commissioners authorize new $48M county administration building
News coverage · The Daily Reflector · Sep 14, 2026 · reflector.com
“Commissioners Mary Perkins-Williams, Benji Holloman, Mark Smith, Gary Weaver, Ann Floyd Huggins and Mac Manning approved a motion authorizing the requests for proposals”

Challengers are listed first and incumbents last; otherwise candidates appear in ballot order. The Gist does not rank, rate or endorse candidates. Only positions backed by a cited source are shown; 4 issues covered in this race.