Wake's $680 million school bond passed with 63.4% of the vote. Winn Decker beat Rep. Erin Paré in N.C. House District 37, which takes in part of Holly Springs.
Wake County voters approved a $680 million school construction bond Tuesday. Holly Springs voters also helped choose a new member of the N.C. House: Democrat Winn Decker beat Republican Rep. Erin Paré in District 37, which takes in part of the town.
The school bond passed with 63.4% of the vote countywide, 320,989 to 185,094. All figures here are unofficial results from the N.C. State Board of Elections. We took them from the board’s precinct results file, published Wednesday.
Holly Springs had no town races on the ballot. Town elections are held in odd-numbered years, and the next is in November 2027.
The school bond
The Wake County Public School System says the county will now issue the bonds. Commissioners have also agreed to spend $152.3 million in cash on top of the borrowing. That brings the total to $832,330,990 for school projects in the 2028 and 2029 budget years, according to the district’s 2026 bond page.
The money goes to renovations, repairs, safety work and new schools across the district. Each project still needs approval through the yearly capital plan, the district said.
A separate Wake County bond for the community college also passed, with 62.7% of the vote.
How Holly Springs voted
The state does not report results by town. Wake County also does not split early votes or mail ballots by precinct. So two partial counts are the closest we can get to Holly Springs:
- Election Day in the seven Holly Springs precincts. These are precincts 06-04, 06-05, 06-06, 06-08, 06-10, 06-11 and 06-12. They hold about 89% of the voters registered inside town limits, according to the county’s voter registration file. About 6,700 people voted in them on Election Day. Some voters in 06-04, 06-05 and 06-10 live outside town limits.
- Early voting at the W.E. Hunt Recreation Center. About 18,000 people voted early at the town’s own early voting site. Any Wake voter could use it, so not all of them live in Holly Springs.
The two groups voted differently. Election Day voters in town leaned Republican in most contested races. Early voters at the Hunt Center leaned Democratic, much like the county.
| Race | Election Day, Holly Springs precincts | Hunt Center early voting | Whole race |
|---|---|---|---|
| School bond, yes | 56.7% | 60.2% | 63.4% |
| N.C. House 36, von Haefen (D) | 51.5% | 69.8% | 63.0% |
| N.C. House 37, Decker (D) | 45.4% | 65.0% | 54.7% |
| Wake commission District 2, Jackson (D) | 45.9% | 66.0% | 57.8% |
| U.S. House 4, Foushee (D) | 51.1% | 70.0% | 79.1% |
| Sheriff, Rowe (D) | 49.6% | 69.0% | 70.5% |
N.C. House: a new member for part of Holly Springs
District 37. Decker won 26,678 votes, or 54.7%, to Paré’s 22,074. That is a margin of 4,604. About 6,500 Holly Springs voters live in the district, mostly in precincts 06-05 and 06-10. On Election Day those two precincts favored Paré, 1,152 to 956. Early voters at the Hunt Center who live in District 37 favored Decker, 3,997 to 2,148.
District 36. Democrat Julie von Haefen beat Republican Mary Insprucker, 26,677 to 15,686, or 63.0%. District 36 covers most of Holly Springs, about 27,400 of its registered voters.
The new legislature meets in January.
Congress, state Senate and the county
- U.S. House District 4: Democrat Valerie Foushee won with 79.1% across the district, which covers most of Holly Springs. Republican Mahesh (Max) Ganorkar had 18.9%.
- U.S. House District 13: Democrat Paul Barringer unseated Republican U.S. Rep. Brad Knott, 159,981 to 152,329, or 50.5% to 48.1%. About 4,700 Holly Springs voters, mostly in precincts 06-05 and 12-10, are in this district.
- N.C. Senate District 13: Democrat Lisa Grafstein beat Republican Robert van Brederode with 60.8%. Most of town is in this district.
- N.C. Senate District 17: Democrat Sydney Batch won with 72.7% over Republican Shirley Johnson. About 10,600 Holly Springs voters, in precincts 06-06 and 06-08 and part of 06-04, are in this district.
- Wake County Board of Commissioners, District 2: Democrat Safiyah Jackson beat Republican John B. Adcock, 47,517 to 34,638, or 57.8%. Almost all of Holly Springs is in District 2.
- Commissioners, at large: Democrats Mona Singh and Christine Kushner won the two seats.
- Sheriff: Democrat Willie Rowe won with 70.5% over Republican Kenny Blackwell.
- Clerk of Superior Court: Democrat Claudia C. Croom won with 70.4%.
- District attorney: Wiley Nickel had no opponent.
There was no school board race in Holly Springs this year. The town is in board Districts 5 and 8, and only Districts 1, 2, 7 and 9 were on the ballot.
The three constitutional amendments
All three amendments passed statewide. Wake County as a whole voted against the photo ID amendment and narrowly for the other two. Election Day voters in Holly Springs backed all three by wide margins.
| Amendment | Holly Springs precincts, Election Day | Hunt Center early voting | Wake County | Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limit local property tax increases | 71.6% for | 52.9% for | 51.3% for | 60.4% for |
| Cap the state income tax at 3.5% | 71.0% for | 52.5% for | 51.2% for | 61.9% for |
| Require photo ID from all voters | 70.1% for | 47.5% for | 46.8% for | 59.6% for |
The property tax amendment tells the General Assembly to pass laws limiting increases in local property tax levies. The limits for the Town of Holly Springs and Wake County will come from those future laws, not from the amendment itself. Our property tax guide has the current rates.
In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Roy Cooper won with 58.7% statewide and 72.7% in Wake County.
What it means for you
- These results are unofficial. The Wake County Board of Elections meets to certify them at its canvass on Friday, Nov. 13. Eligible provisional ballots are added before then.
- Bond money is not spent at once. The school district says the bonds cover projects in the 2028 and 2029 budget years. Its bond page lets you search by school.
- Check your own districts in the state’s voter lookup.
- More on how the vote went: our early voting count and voting guide.
Have your say