Johnston school board member to face GOP primary challenge after legislative change
Embattled Johnston County school board member Ronald Johnson will face a GOP primary challenger in March.
That was a unanimous decision Wednesday by the state board of elections, which dismissed a residency challenge Johnson had filed against his GOP primary opponent for his District 7 seat, David Marshburn.
The race is officially non-partisan, although the Republican and Democratic parties typically publicize their candidates. The two Democrats also running in that primary are Jeff Sullivan and Sammi Solmonson. The top two vote-getters proceed to the general election.
Johnson is already facing what's likely to be an uphill battle for re-election after a string of controversies, including being fired from the Smithfield police force and being censured by his fellow school board members for allegations of sexual misconduct and making secret recordings of people.
He is currently out on bond on felony extortion charges after allegedly trying to blackmail congressional candidate DeVan Barbour in 2022. He could be facing up to 5 years in prison.
After Johnson was charged with a felony for allegedly trying to blackmail a fellow Republican, GOP state lawmakers changed the law to require Johnston County school board candidates to run from a residency district, rather than at-large.
That change made it easier for another Republican to directly challenge Johnson. Marshburn rented a property in the district, the Clayton area, and did just that.
Johnson filed a candidate challenge, claiming Marshburn doesn’t really live at the Clayton address.
Marshburn responded by publicly taunting Johnson on videos posted to social media every week.
"Ron Johnson, if you want to come to my house, come on. I'll show you around. Want pictures?" Marshburn asked on a Facebook livestream as he sat in a recliner at the Clayton address.
The Johnston County board of elections dismissed Johnson's challenge for lack of evidence, so Johnson appealed to the state elections board. At Wednesday's hearing, he said Marshburn really lives at a family property in District 5.
"Mr. Marshburn has a deeded property that he has been tied to since 2001. It is where his family lives. It is where he always returns," Johnson testified to the state board Wednesday.
Marshburn attorney John O'Hale countered that the candidate and his wife had lived separately for years. He said the proponderence of evidence was in Marshburn's favor, because he had leased a Clayton residence, spent considerable money rehabbing it, and changed his address on his voter registration and driver's license.
Board member Jeff Carmon agreed.
"[Marshburn] looked up the statute, and he did exactly what the law requires of him. With that being said, that gives us very limited wiggle room," Carmon said.
Election board member Kevin Lewis said the motivation wasn't the question at hand.
"You know, it may be distasteful that candidates to move from one place to another to qualify themselves for residency to run for an office. But it's not illegal to do that," he advised Johnson.
The primary election takes place March 5.
