MONROE — Was he confident he would win?

“No, no, no, not at all.”

As Union County’s only write-in candidate to win a seat this election, Harry Stokes will represent Stallings District 1 after defeating incumbent Al Graham.

As of Thursday, 37 write-in candidates across the state won political offices last week. A few towns had up to four candidates win by write-in.

“Most of them are very small towns,” said Gary Bartlett, executive director of the N.C. Board of Elections. “It happens every municipal election cycle,” but rarely for county, district or state seats. Some towns find that no one filed for candidacy by deadline, he said, but there are still residents who would like the positions.

That happened in Hemby Bridge in 2007, the last time Union County had a write-in candidate win, according to Union County Board of Elections Director John Whitley. Only two candidates filed to run for three seats on the Hemby Bridge Board of Aldermen. Johnny Lemmond was the leading vote-getter among write-ins for the third seat.

“I knew I had an uphill battle,” Stokes said. “My goal was to do three times the work and have three times the signs as everybody else ... to try to level the playing field. And it worked.”

The deadline to file was July 17, but Stokes said he was not approached about running until shortly thereafter.

On Election Day, Stokes received 1,012 of 1,020 write-in votes for the seat. Graham received 534.

“I’m humbled and overwhelmed at the same time,” Stokes said. Stokes, a health insurance broker, is a 20-year Stallings resident.

To run his campaign, he enlisted the help of eight close friends, plus his wife. He said having his wife by his side was a great asset.

As the PTO president for both Stallings Elementary and Porter Ridge High schools, Sherri Stokes is well-known in the community. The couple has three daughters, ages 3, 9 and 15, two who are adopted.

Mayor Lynda Paxton’s endorsement was also a big help, Stokes said, as was the teamwork carried out with some fellow candidates.

Stokes spent a little over $6,000 on campaigning, all out of his own pocket. “I wanted ... to have no favors to pay back,” he said. “It was worth it.”

Watching the votes come in last week, Stokes saw he had a lead late in the evening. “I was absolutely stunned.”

The next day, “I woke up and thought, ‘You got four years; you got a lot to get done.’” Stokes has met with Police Chief Larke Plyler, Town Manager Brian Matthews and both old and new council members. He takes office next month, and “I want to be prepared when that happens,” he said.