White bumps Burkett from board

Orange County Economic Development Board Chairman Jim White defeated incumbent supervisor Zack Burkett and fellow challenger Art Magner for the District 2 Board of Supervisors seat. White collected 62 percent of the vote with 987 votes, to Burkett's 494 and Magner's 113.
"I really didn't have any expectations about how the evening was going to go," said White. "A lot of people have helped me during the campaign, doing a whole lot of work."
Burkett was elected to the board of supervisors in 2007 when he defeated incumbent Thomas Graves and then District 2 challenger Will Likins.
White said that he ran to give voters an alternative to Burkett and that his campaign was the work of many people and that he was the one that just happened to get elected.
"We wanted to offer choices to voters, offer them choices and see what happened; apparently they liked what they saw," said White. "The citizens of the county came out the winners tonight."
Burkett said that he regretted the outcome of the election, but that he respects the voters and the American system of democracy.
"Obviously I'm sorry I lost," said Burkett, "but no one has more respect for the American voting system than I do. I just congratulate Jim and say good luck."
White attributes his victory in some ways to what he calls negative campaigning by Burkett.
"Zack went negative and people didn't like that," said White. "A lot of what he was saying was simply not true."
Burkett said that he stands by everything he said during his campaign, but that he hopes he's wrong in his prediction that the county will falter under the new board.
"A lot of Jim's supporters were old politicians, former supervisors and school board members," said Burkett. "He's pretty much going to take things back to the way they were, which frankly wasn't very good. But no one hopes I'm wrong more than me."
Magner also congratulated White on the win and challenged him to improve the economy of Orange County.
"I wish Jim the best of luck," said Magner. "I hope he will do something for the county and the kids in a positive way. I hope he'll bring jobs and businesses into the county and broaden the tax base."
White moved to Orange County in 1989, when he and his wife bought a cattle farm in Orange. He has a B.A. in engineering from North Carolina State University and an M.B.A. from American University in Washington D.C. White said he worked primarily in the engineering and computer fields, even starting his own companies, before retiring to farming in Orange County. Since 1997 he has served as an advisor and member of the Orange County Economic Development Authority and has been chairman for the last five years. He’s also been a member of the Nursing Home Commission (Dogwood Village) since 2000, having been chairman for last six years.
All three candidates thanked their supporters that worked on their campaigns and the voters.