Guest Post from Annie Dance who writes Cops and Congress, a Rutherford County-based substak. Click here to check it out.
Democrats won control of Congress, but Republicans remained the clear choice in most major local races in Rutherford and McDowell counties. Democrat Roy Cooper won North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race against Republican Michael Whatley. Democrat Jamie Ager defeated Republican Jennifer Balkcom in the 11th Congressional District, and Democrat LaKesha Womack won the seat against Republican incumbent Tim Moore in the 14th District in a stunning upset.
Those results were part of a national election that gave Democrats control of the U.S. House and Senate. President Donald Trump remains in office, meaning Democrats and Republicans will share power in Washington beginning in January.
The local winners described below are apparent winners based on unofficial returns retrieved Nov. 4. County election boards are scheduled to certify their results Nov. 13. State certification is scheduled for Nov. 24. Republicans responded to their national losses by defending their record and promising to fight Democratic proposals.
“Over the last two years, Senate Republicans have put up a strong record of accomplishment that’s created safer streets, more money in Americans’ pockets, and new opportunities for families and businesses to get ahead,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune wrote on X. “Thankfully, we still have President Trump in the White House, and we’ll work with him to stop the worst impulses of Democrat extremism.”
Thune credited Republicans with tax legislation, stronger border enforcement and confirming Trump’s appointees. Those statements reflected his assessment of the Republican record.
In North Carolina, Cooper received approximately 2.46 million votes to Whatley’s 1.64 million. Whatley nevertheless won Rutherford, McDowell and Polk counties. Cooper won Henderson and Buncombe. The congressional results showed the same divide. Moore won Rutherford County by nearly 7,900 votes but lost the overall congressional race. Womack received 147,388 votes across the district to Moore’s 140,973.
Ager received 195,637 votes districtwide to Balkcom’s 141,427. Balkcom won McDowell County, but Ager’s support elsewhere, including Buncombe and Henderson, put him ahead overall. In Rutherford County, Republican Scott Haynes defeated Democrat Phil Burney for the District 5 county commission seat, 15,276 to 7,344.
Republicans Allen Hardin and Adam Yelton won the District 1 and District 4 seats unopposed.
Republican Joshua Millwood defeated Democrat Erica Carson Davenport for school board District 1. Republican Kala Suttle defeated Democrat Kisha McDowell in District 2. Republican April Mayse won District 3 with no Democratic opponent.
Republican Sheriff Aaron Ellenburg and Clerk of Superior Court Steve Owens also won without Democratic opponents.
Republican David Norris won the district attorney’s race covering Rutherford and McDowell counties without a Democratic opponent. He received a combined 29,254 votes.
In McDowell County, Republicans Chris Allison, Tony Brown and David Walker won the three available county commission seats. Democrats Terry English, Matt Suttles and Stephanie Tenery lost.
Republican Dudley Greene defeated Democrat Suzanne Gavenus in House District 85, receiving 23,012 votes districtwide to her 12,416.
McDowell voters also rejected the local sales-and-use-tax proposal. The vote was 9,849 against and 5,839 in favor.
Polk County produced a mixed result.
Republican Sheriff Tim Wright defeated unaffiliated challenger Keenan Nesbitt, 5,140 to 4,519. Nesbitt was endorsed by the Democratic party.
Republican David Moore and Democrat Ray Gasperson won the two available county commission seats. Republican Andre Overholt and Democrat Jon Klimstra lost. Gasperson finished 244 votes ahead of Overholt for the second seat.
In Henderson County, Democrat Lynne Russo defeated Republican Chelsea Walsh in House District 117, 22,710 to 21,180. The district includes Bat Cave.
Republicans won other legislative races serving the area. Tim Moffitt defeated Democrat Doyle Brown in Senate District 48, and Jake Johnson defeated Democrat John Morgan in House District 113.
In Buncombe County, Democratic Sheriff Quentin Miller defeated Republican Gary Parris, 90,324 to 38,995. Democrats Anna Stearns and Lonnie Israel won their contested county commission races.
Buncombe voters approved housing and open-space bonds. They opposed all three constitutional amendments, although the amendments passed statewide in the unofficial count.
In Asheville, Kim Roney defeated incumbent Esther Manheimer for mayor, 25,676 to 18,375. Drew Ball, Maggie Ullman Berthiaume and S. Antanette Mosley won the three available City Council seats.
Rutherford County’s town elections also produced clear winners, along with several closer council races, which are nonpartisan on paper. The ballots did not show the candidates’ registered party affiliations or whether they’re unaffiliated. You may look them up here.
In Lake Lure, Mayor Carol Pritchett received 434 votes, more than the 286 votes cast for all write-in candidates combined.
John Edmonds Kozma and Kathy Tanner had announced write-in campaigns. The available results did not show how many votes each received, but neither could exceed the total based on the reported count.
Jim Proctor and Dave Lusk won Lake Lure’s two commission seats. Friedrich Jaeger-Faber and Richard Sayles lost.
In Chimney Rock Village, Nicholas Sottile and W. Bennett Phillips won the two council seats. Richard Duffy finished third, 10 votes behind Phillips.
In Rutherfordton, Mayor Jimmy Dancy received 978 votes, compared with 245 for all write-ins combined. Clark Poole had announced a write-in campaign, but the available count did not identify him by name, which comes at the county canvass.
Ricky Gilbert and Jeff Wells won Rutherfordton’s two council seats.
In Forest City, Steve Holland defeated Kimberly McCurry for mayor, 1,388 to 588. John Mark Bennett and Carl Ramsey won the two council seats.
In Spindale, Charlie Brooks defeated Jonathan Bland and Wyvern Mason for mayor. Ricky Ledbetter and Rosaleen Francis won the regular commission seats. Nancy Walker won the separate race for an unexpired term as a town commissioner. She’s currently the mayor.
In Bostic, Mitch Harrill won the mayoral race. Mike Hollifield and Billy Lattimore won the two commission seats.
In Ellenboro, Perry Whisnant, Lee Allen and Rachel Lawson won the three alderman seats. Lawson finished just 11 votes ahead of Pamela Padgett for the last seat.
Election officials will review remaining eligible ballots and complete audits before certifying the results, in the process followed under state law. The closest races could be affected by that review.
You may filter through the data here for more details and races.
