GOP doctors will go to primary runoff in North Carolina U.S. House race

By Mike DeBonis April 30 at 9:57 PM

Two physicians emerged from a crowded Republican primary in the race to succeed the late Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr. in North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District, setting up a decisive July 9 runoff for the GOP nomination.

The winner will face the Democratic former mayor of Greenville, N.C., and candidates from other parties in September.

Jones, a Republican, died at 76 on Feb. 10, prompting a special election in the rural eastern part of the state.

Tuesday’s primary was the first congressional election since last year’s midterms, and while the race for the reliably Republican seat has not attracted significant national attention, it has attracted six Democratic and 17 Republican candidates willing to run for the district’s first vacancy since 1986.

State Rep. Greg Murphy, a urologist, and Joan Perry, a pediatrician, emerged from the Republican primary, according to Associated Press projections. Neither won the 30 percent share needed to avoid the runoff, though Murphy came closest, with about 26 percent according to election-night returns.

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