Very few things are as exciting as being able to vote in your very first presidential primary election. On Mar. 15, 2016, the great state of North Carolina had its chance to declare who it wanted to be president as well as vote for other important offices and a bond.

First, the thing that everyone wants to know about: who did North Carolina declare worth of the presidential title? For the Republican party Donald Trump took hold of the state with Ted Cruz following as a close second and both Kasich and Rubio falling far behind the two front-runners. Within the Democratic party it was straight-forward: it would either be Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. Hillary Clinton took the state with a double-digit lead over Bernie Sanders. Sanders' campaign is stating that there is still the possibility of a Bernie nomination with the deep south off the map.

Though the other statewide elections lack a lot of the publicity and draw that the presidential election has, they are still incredibly important! For Governor Pat McCrory, the Republican winner, will be facing off against Roy Cooper, the Democratic winner. A U.S. Senate seat was also up for grabs during this election. Current Senator Richard Burr (R) will be campaigning against Deborah Ross the winner for the Democratic party. Both seats will be determined officially during the general election in November.

The other state wide elections on the ballot resulted as follows:

State Superintendent:

• Dem: June Atkinson
• Rep: Mark Johnson

Attorney General

• Dem: Josh Stein
• Rep: Buck Newton

Lieutenant Governor:

• Dem: Linda Coleman
• Rep: Dan Forest

Any further elections were completed on community levels and are not the same statewide. However, another thing that was voted on during the primary election was a bond referendum to give $2.2 billion to state universities and state parks for building purposes. This referendum was approved by the great people of North Carolina. You can find out more about Connect NC by visiting their website.

If you're 18 years old, it is your civic duty to go out to vote. Spend time educating yourself about all of the candidates and go forth to vote in the general election in November!