Critics of the Currituck Board of Commissioners say Tuesday's election results show public discontent with the current board.

Specifically, they point to longtime incumbent Ernie Bowden's loss by more than 1,000 votes to political newcomer Michael Cherry in the Democratic primary for the board's new District 1 seat.

They also note that Roy Lee Etheridge, a Democratic candidate for the newly created District 2 seat who had praised the current commission board, seat lost to board critic Jerry Wright in their primary race.

"I personally think it's a vote of dissatisfaction with the direction the board is

going," said Paul O'Neal, a Republican former commissioner who will be on the ballot in November for the board's newly created at-large seat. "I'm hearing in the community that people are very concerned about the flippant attitude and vengefulness that the board is showing."

Commissioner Owen Etheridge, the board's lone Republican, also believes Tuesday's election conveyed a message to his Democratic peers.

"Any election is a snapshot of that particular time," he said Wednesday. "It appears that last night the people of Currituck County are not happy with the direction the majority of the current board is taking."

But other members of the commission board disagree. They say Bowden's and Etheridge's defeats were not indicators of dissatisfaction with the current board's performance.

Barry Nelms, chairman of the commission board, said commissioners have a whole host of accomplishments of which they can be proud, and that Bowden had contributed to them.

"We have made tremendous strides," Nelms said, noting that commissioners have put together a revitalized Economic Development Board whose members are working well together.

Nelms said the board has also approved $60 million in infrastructure improvements, the construction of two schools, a new library in Moyock, and development of a $25 million water treatment plant. All of those improvements have been achieved without tax or fee increases, he said.

"There has not been any increase in taxes, not one penny," Nelms said. "We've been very frugal saving people of Currituck money and keeping taxes low."

Nelms also said commissioners are moving forward with developing a centralize sewer system in Moyock, something Bowden has advocated.

"I think that goes a lot to (Bowden's) credit," Nelms said. "He knew Moyock could, and cannot, develop without central sewer."

As for why Bowden didn't win re-election, Nelms said he couldn't say. He pointed out that politicians, including Bowden, win or lose elections for a host of reasons.

A number of voters outside polling places Tuesday told a reporter that voted against Bowden because of a traffic accident he was involved in last October. Bowden, who originally had been charged with a felony in the matter, ended up pleading guilty to three misdemeanors, including having an open container of alcohol in his vehicle.

Vance Aydlett Jr., a Republican who won Tuesday's primary for the District 1 seat, suggested that the election results were indicators of public feeling about both Bowden and the full commission board.

"(The results) spoke clearly about people wanting to see honesty and integrity and personal involvement and citizen involvement back in our county government," he said.

Aydlett also said the outcome of the District 2 race showed that residents favor "smart growth," where infrastructure and services are in place before development occurs.

In that race, Jerry Wright, who has been very critical of the pace of the current board's decisions on rezonings, defeated Roy Lee Etheridge.

During the campaign, Etheridge praised the current board. On Wednesday, he said he didn't consider the election results as a knock on the current board.

"I think a lot of people are happy with (commissioners)," he said. "You have your few there that don't exactly agree."

Wright couldn't be reached for comment for this story.

Cherry, who defeated Bowden in Tuesday's Democratic primary and will face Aydlett in the general election, said he couldn't comment on whether the current board's performance had anything to do with his victory. He said voters just seemed ready for new leadership in Bowden's seat.

"(The election) shows that Currituck is ready for a change with a better candidate that has got a good background in education, that is just educated," he said.

Commissioner Janet Taylor, who was not on Tuesday's ballot, said she too, doesn't consider Tuesday's results as a referendum on the current board's performance.

She said that Wright's 109-vote margin of victory over Etheridge was anything but a landslide. And she pointed out that there was only one incumbent running on Tuesday.

"I think the (current) board has been working hard to get things accomplished for the county and its citizens, and that is our main focus," she said.