2026 Election - Local Government
The candidate filing period has ended for the 2026 mid-term election and residents in Caswell County's District 01 will be asked to select their County Commissioner during the March Primary Election.
The March Primary will also determine who is on the ballot this fall for one of the At-Large Commissioner seats.
The Caswell County Sheriff will be selected by voters in the fall election.
The 2026 election will not bring any changes to Caswell's Board of Education.
Caswell County Commissioners
District 01 - Current Commissioner Frank Rose and former Commissioner Cathy Lucas, both Republicans, are the only candidates in the race so Caswell's District 01 Commissioner will be selected during the March Primary Election.
District 02 - Antonio Foster (Democrat) has filed to run against current Commissioner Finch Holt (Republican).
District 04 (unexpired term) - No one filed to run against current Commissioner Brian Totten (Democrat) so he will keep the District 04 seat, unopposed. Totten was appointed to that seat in March of 2025 after the resignation of former Commissioner Edith Gwynn, who had been elected in November of 2024.
District 05 - No one filed to run against current Commissioner Tim Yarbrough (Republican) so he will keep the District 05 seat, unopposed.
At-Large (unexpired term) - Four residents are running for the unexpired At-Large Commissioner term. This is one of the two seats on the Caswell County Board of Commissioners that is elected by the entire county and is not specific to any one district. The late Commissioner David Wrenn, a Republican, was elected to that seat in November of 2024, but passed away in March of 2025. Commissioner John Claggett, a Republican, was appointed to the seat in June of 2025 after the resignation of former Commissioner Rick McVey, also a Republican.
The Board had appointed McVey, over the objection of local Republican Party leadership, during a special, called meeting on March 24th. Three days later, the NC General Assembly would approve HR 58, which included an amendment that would now require Caswell County Commissioners to not just consider party recommendation, but to act on it. The amendment, which was introduced by NC Senator David Craven of Randolph County, specified that the change in process would apply to any vacancy that occurred on or after March 3, 2025.
Voters must now elect someone to fill that at-large seat for the remainder of its original term. Both parties will select their fall candidates during the 2026 Primaries.
Democrats will be asked to choose between two candidates, Jelesa Hardin of Pelham and William B. Vernon of Milton.
Republicans will be asked to choose between Elin Claggett of Providence and Randy Simmons of Stony Creek.
Caswell County Sheriff
Current Caswell County Sheriff Tony Durden, a Democrat from Pelham, is being challenged by Eric Crisp, a Republican from Prospect Hill.
Caswell County Board of Education
Three current members of the Caswell County Board of Education are running unopposed. Vennie Beggarly of District 01, Joel Lillard of District 02, and Nicole Smith of District 05 each filed for reelection and have no opposition.
Timeline
Individuals who wish to vote in the March 3, 2025 Primary Election must be registered to vote by February 6. Early voting will begin on February 12 and end on February 28.
You can check your vote registration and confirm which District you live in using a tool provided by the NC State Board of Elections HERE.
Caswell News and Notes will be reaching out to each of the candidates to give them an opportunity to introduce themselves to our readers. Please tell us what you would most like to ask the candidates by emailing your question to Shannon@Caswell.News.
