The race for the next Congressman will require some additional time.

There will be a runoff in the Republican primary for the U.S. House of Representatives District 3 seat due to none of the candidates receiving 30 percent or more of the overall vote. In a crowded roster of 17 candidates, Dr. Greg Murphy — a Greenville urologist and N.C. House representative — led the way with 9,507 votes, 22.54 percent of the final tally. His opponent in the July 9 runoff will be Dr. Joan Perry — a Kinston pediatrician — who received 15.44 percent of the votes, a total of 6,515.  

Murphy said he was blessed to be the leading vote-getter among the republicans.

“I think they believed throughout the entire district that I’m the most qualified candidate and I believe we’re going to have a great race running for United States Congress,” Murphy said. “We’ve had a fantastic team (doing) a hard job and I can’t thank them enough.”

Family and friends gathered at the Kinston home of Dr. Joan Perry Tuesday night to await election results after a long day of last-minute campaigning.

Perry began her day by voting at her own precinct at Tanglewood Church of God in Kinston, and then visited another Lenoir County precinct at Grace Fellowship Church, where she was able to spend some time with members of her Bible study group. She then traveled across Eastern North Carolina to visit precincts in Richlands, Jacksonville and New Bern, where she interacted with voters as they went to the polls.

Perry confirmed live in an exclusive phone interview with Neuse News that she will call for a runoff, since the top vote-getter, Dr. Greg Murphy, did not reach the 30% threshold required to win outright.

“We recognize the fact that 70-75% of the residents who live in this district did not vote for Greg [Murphy], and I also carried a number of the counties, so for those two reasons we will be calling for a runoff,” Perry told Neuse News editor Bryan Hanks. She said that while she didn’t have any particular expectations as to the results, she felt good going into the evening, and the results backed up that feeling.

Perry said she hopes to bring her message of life to the runoff and the general election, and she believes it will be something that will resonate with voters. “I think thirty-four years of experience living in this district, working in the private sector, raising a family, taking care of an elderly parent, being involved in the Christian community, the community at large, the education sector and public health...I would like to think those life experiences set me apart from Dr. Murphy and the other candidates,” Perry said.

The dozens of friends and family members who were gathered at the Perry home to watch the results came in erupted in cheers when it became clear that Perry would be in position to request a runoff. After Perry conducted interviews with waiting reporters, those present joined hands as Pastor Jason McKnight of Grace Fellowship Church in Kinston led the group in prayer.

Perry said that the campaign for her has been “an enormous journey of faith,” but she hopes to keep going in the hopes of bringing a new voice to Washington.

The Democratic election was decided early as Allen Thomas defeated five other candidates and secured 12,912 votes, good for 50.02 percent. As a result, Thomas will represent the party when the general election will be held Sept. 10.

“I feel incredibly blessed,” Thomas said. “So many wonderful people across all 17 counties stepped up to come to the polls and I’m really humbled. I can’t tell you how many hours that so many volunteers have spent across this district. Congressman Jones has done so much for this region and I really felt the calling to step out and run.”

In the Libertarian race, Tim Harris will advance to the General Election after defeating Shannon Bray 75-59. Greg Holt of the Constitution Party ran unopposed and will also prepare for Sept. 10.

Junious Smith III contributed to this report.