Instead of considering these five Democratic primaries as individual races, we’re instead going to address them collectively. After all, to a large degree, they’re being fought over the same issue: these five incumbents voted for a budget last year that granted the Wake County Public Schools System $21 million of the $45 million in new funding it requested. The challengers say that’s not good enough.

We’re backing the incumbents, though not without some hesitation. There are some races that made for easier decisions than others, owing to the quality of the competition. In District 1, for instance, Jeremiah Pierce is a fine newcomer, but he doesn’t hold a candle to Sig Hutchinson, the board’s foremost advocate for greenways and greenspace.

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