Shaver delivered more petitions to the Moore County Board of Elections office in Carthage Friday morning to put him over the top in his quest to challenge Republican Joe Boylan of Pinehurst. Shaver is a registered Republican.
Former Southern Pines Police Chief Gerald Galloway, a longtime Democrat who recently switched his registration to unaffiliated, was also closing in on securing enough signatures to have his name on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate for House.
The signatures must be verified by the Moore County Board of Elections. Under state law, a registered voter who wants to run as an unaffiliated candidate must secure the signatures of 4 percent of the registered voters, which in Moore County is 2,040 names, according to county Elections Director Glenda Clendenin.
The deadline for securing the signatures is June 30.
A retired Army general living in Seven Lakes, Shaver mounted his campaign because he said he was angry that the state Republican Party interfered in Moore County by supporting Boylan in his primary battle with state Rep. Richard Morgan.
The state GOP poured money into Boylan's campaign and sent volunteers to Moore County to campaign for him.
Boylan, who owns several hair salons, defeated Morgan in a bitterly contested May primary by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent.
"Getting the signatures is not the easiest thing to do," Shaver said Friday. "The majority of people that signed said they were unhappy with what the state party did and the volume of hate mail against Richard that came in. …
"The more I have gotten into this, the more fire I have in my belly. We are going to have an election in which every voter will have a choice of who will represent them. I would hope the decision is not based on labels, but on who will best represent them."
Shaver said he has no animosity against Boylan and that his decision also does not mean he supports Morgan.
Galloway announced June 6 that he was starting a campaign to get on the November ballot as an unaffiliated candidate after being encouraged to run by both Democrats and Republicans. Galloway switched to unaffiliated about a week before throwing his hat into the ring. He had switched to unaffiliated four years earlier to vote in a Republican primary and then changed back to Democrat.
Shortly after starting his petition drive, Galloway said his decision to change to unaffiliated was intended to show voters that he is moderate or mainstream.
No Democrat filed during the filing period earlier this year.
As of late Friday afternoon, the elections board had verified 1,922 signatures on petitions for Galloway, according to Clendenin.
Galloway, who was out stumping for signatures Friday, said he is very confident that he will secure more than enough names to get on the ballot. He planned to deliver more petitions Tuesday.
"We're going to get there," he said.
David Sinclair can be reached at 693-2462 or by e-mail at dsinclair@thepilot.com.
