By Miles Layton

Editor

EDENTON — The Chowan County Republi- can Party gathered Thursday for its 2026 combined precinct meeting and an- nual county convention, drawing registered Republicans and guests to hear party business and an update from one of the district’s rising figures.

John Spruill, First Vice Chair of the First Congressional District Republican Party, Washington County Board of Commissioners Chairman, and Chief of the Roper Fire Depart- ment, delivered remarks that ranged from the prac- tical realities of rebuilding district infrastructure to a candid reflection on his own recent primary campaign — and closed with a pitch for party unity heading into the general election.

A District Pointed Outward Spruill wasted little time getting to the state of the First Congressional District, which has been navigating a leadership transition following the resignation of former chair Harvey West Jr. at the Williamston convention earlier this year. Mary Helen Pelt Warren was elected chair at that meeting, and Spruill was elected First Vice Chair.

“We do have a new chairman, Mary Helen, and she has hit the ground running wide open,” Spruill told the Chowan gathering. “I think we’ve had conference calls every night since she’s been elected to try to get the district back on the right track. It was focused inward and not outward. And the purpose of the district is to get Repub- licans elected, and that’s what we need to do.”

The district’s April 11 convention loomed large in Spruill’s remarks. He acknowledged that little groundwork had been laid before the leadership tran- sition and that organizers were moving quickly to pull things together. Dele- gates elected at Thursday’s meeting were encouraged to register promptly — $25 to attend with a meal, $10 for the convention only — using a QR code Spruill left with the group...