Dems protest Wake GOP Senate candidate, saying he doesn't live in district. Candidate says it's 'just smoke'

The state Democratic Party pressed an election protest this week against E.C. Sykes, a Republican running for the state Senate in Wake County, saying he doesn’t live in the district where he’s running as required.

An operative for the party says Sykes lives in a rental home less than 10 miles away and that he’s been seen coming and going from this home for weeks. The protest calls on the Wake County Board of Elections to investigate and rule Sykes ineligible for the Senate District 18 seat weeks ahead of the Nov. 8 general election.

Sykes — who is in a three-way race against Democrat Mary Wills Bode and Libertarian Ryan Brown — called the filing “just smoke” Thursday. He said he’s living in a large camper on a private road in the district while a permanent home is built on a lot he owns next store. He declined to allow a WRAL News reporter to visit the private property to take a picture of the home under construction, but pictures of the trailer are included in the election protest filing.

Sykes, a businessman and the GOP’s 2020 nominee for Secretary of State, said he spends “five or so” days a week at the trailer, and that his rental home outside the district is something he uses for his business and campaign work.

NC Voter Guide 2022: Who's running, how, where, when to vote in NC election

The complaint notes the presence of the camper at Sykes’ in-district property but says it’s not connected to electricity and that neighbors near the private, gated road “have never seen anyone staying in the camper on a regular basis.”

Sykes said the camper has electricity.

“There’s full utilities,” he said. “It’s got a great fireplace inside of it. My grandkids love it. It’s got a loft in it when they stay out there with us. It’s really quite comfortable.”

Residency challenges are common in North Carolina politics, though the timing on this one — filed late Wednesday, the day before early voting began in this race and others across the state — is unusual. Residency challenge deadlines had already passed, so this was filed as an election protest, which would usually be filed after an election is complete.

State law says that, in cases like these, the protest is put on ice until after election day unless the person defending against the protest — in this case Sykes — asks to do otherwise. Wake County elections director Gary Sims said Thursday that the county board of elections’ legal team was reviewing the filing.

State law requires candidates to live in state legislative districts for at least a year ahead of an election. That was more difficult to pin down this year because lawmakers redrew these districts in a routine process called redistricting, and state Senate districts weren’t finalized until February.

The protest, filed by Todd Stiefel on behalf of the state Democratic Party, says Sykes didn’t live on his property inside the district in November 2021, as required, and that he doesn’t live there now. The address is on Pro Deo Way, though that’s a relatively new name. Sykes and his wife renamed the private road, which in Latin means “For God,” from Melvin Arnold Road.

The protest says Sykes actually lives on Harps Mill Road, in Senate District 13. That this was the address on his voter registration when he ran for Secretary of State in 2020 and that “he has never abandoned that domicile,” the protest says. The filing includes surveillance reports from September and October, with pictures purported to show Sykes coming and going from the Harps Mill Road rental home.

It also includes affidavits from neighbors near the new property, including one who says there was “no activity and no trace of anyone” there from January to April.

“Mr. and Mrs. Sykes are not at the property very often,” an affidavit from neighbor Jason Bell states. “I have never seen them there. They do not have a mailbox where they receive mail. I do not believe they are living in the trailer.”

Bode, Sykes’ Democratic opponent, said Thursday that the protest is “a very serious concern” and that she trusts the Wake County Board of Elections will investigate.