Dec. 2. By Dave Vieser. NC Sen. Jeff Tarte and Rep. John Bradford, both Republicans from Cornelius, filed to run for re-election Dec. 1 at the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections in Charlotte. Tuesday was the first day of filing which remains open until noon Dec. 21.

Tarte represents the 41st senate district, which covers Davidson, Cornelius, Huntersville, Mint Hill and small portion of Charlotte. According to campaign manager Larry Shaheen “the 41st is a very conservative Republican district and thus far no one else has announced an intention to run against Jeff.” Tarte has already built up a significant war chest, raising over $75,000 to date for the 2016 race.

Two years ago, the former Cornelius mayor soundly defeated Democratic candidate Latrice McRae of Mint Hill.

Bradford, a former member of the Cornelius Town Board, was first elected to the 98th District seat in 2014 when he defeated former Cornelius Mayor Lynette Rinker in the GOP primary and Democrat Natasha Marcus, of Davidson, in the general election.

Marcus put in a good showing in a largely Republican district. On Tuesday evening she is not ready to make an announcement as to whether she will run again.

One unknown factor in the race is the possible impact of the I-77 toll lane project as it remains to be seen whether unhappiness in the Lake Norman area with Gov. Pat McCrory could trickle down to state and local GOP officials on the ballot. Both Tarte and Bradford have come out against the toll lane plan.

Both originally supported the idea of managed lanes as the only way to expand the interstate but more recently they have both called for a halt in the project as more details of the 50 year contract with Cintra/Mobility Partners emerged.