Brian Turner likely to run unopposed in November

The Buncombe County GOP has had its hands full replacing candidates at the local and state levels. Two ballot vacancies, and an immediate opening on county commission, were created in May due to Miranda DeBruhl‘s sudden resignation from the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners. Local Republican party leadership tapped Tim Moffit as an immediate short-term replacement, Robert Pressley to run for the District 3 seat that holds a two-year term and Chuck Archerd to run for chair of the county board.

While county Republicans were working on those replacements, their candidate for House District 116, Kay Olsen, dropped out of that race. Nathan West, chair of the Buncombe County GOP, says the party likely won’t fill that vacancy before the state-mandated deadline of Thursday, Aug. 25. “We are not going to make the deadline. We have not had a candidate come forward. So it appears we won’t have anyone run,” West told Xpress.

Democrat Brian Turner, House District 116’s incumbent, is running for a second term. Turner defeated Moffit, who was then running for a third term in the state house, in November 2014.

Republicans still have until Aug. 25 to put a replacement candidate on the ballot before Turner would officially run unopposed. House District 116 serves the westernmost part of Buncombe County.

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About Dan Hesse
I grew up outside of Atlanta and moved to WNC in 2001 to attend Montreat College. After college, I worked at NewsRadio 570 WWNC as an anchor/reporter and covered Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners starting in 2004. During that time I also completed WCU's Master of Public Administration program. You can reach me at dhesse@mountainx.com.

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26 thoughts on “Brian Turner likely to run unopposed in November

  1. bsummers

    C’mon, Tim. Not too late to take another swing at it.

    Has anyone asked Kay Olsen if she really intended to run, or was it just a placeholder that nobody took over? Perhaps the NCGOP knew they had no one to beat Turner, so her sham candidacy was just an attempt to spread support and money between Turner and John Ager…

    John is having a fundraiser on Saturday. Maybe stroll on over & volunteer?

    http://www.electjohnager.org/

  2. Lulz

    LOL, if and if ever the sheep awake and realize that the government is inept then and only then will things progress. LOL, see while you people are enraged by bathroom laws and where morons can take a leak LOL, your god and church of insanity gives away hundreds of million to places like Iran as ransom money. That will of course finance such peaceful endeavors as nuclear weapons and terrorism lulz. And may many Americans suffer for it. Simply because they are unconcerned with what is really happening and instead vote in people based mainly on which political party they identify with even though they are as corrupt as can be lulz.

    • Peter Robbins

      I think you’re out of line here, lulz. The United States refused to pay Iran money that it was lawfully owed until Iran did something we wanted. That’s not ransom. That’s extortion. I’d like to see your guy do the deal any better.

    • Lulz, you are quite right about the terrorist nation Iran. The Iranians broke an agreement which nullified our obligation to pay the settlement money. We were under no obligation to pay a cent but Obama did it anyway. It’s not a mystery. And it is confirmed that the U.S. paid ransom for hostages, further endangering American lives. What a guy.

      State Department Spox Confirms U.S. Sent Money To Iran After Hostages Were Released
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hv09zeG2Yg

      • bsummers

        False.

        First, the “US” didn’t pay a dime. This was money that always Iran’s, sitting in an account that we froze decades ago. They were going to get it back eventually.

        Second, this release of Iranian money was the result of a 35-year process set in motion by Ronald Reagan. Educate yourself by reading up on the “Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal” at The Hague.

        https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/the-400-million-payment-to-iran-was-american-diplomacy-at-its-finest/2016/08/11/2d1e6d5a-5f3c-11e6-af8e-54aa2e849447_story.html?utm_term=.2fbc29d2f739

        Nobody who has been following this beyond the alt-right crowd, believes this was “ransom”. Nobody that is, except those like Trump who are willing to derail international cooperation for political points in an election year.

        If any more American lives are “endangered”, it’s because of how the issue has been misrepresented by cheap political hacks.

        • That, of course, is entirely false. Iran abrogated a treaty and was not in any way deserving of the money Obama voluntarily gave them out of his personal largesse. Paying ransom money to terrorists encourages the further taking of hostages and put lives in danger. Anyone outside the tiny progressive bubble knows these things. That includes that State Department.

          State Department Spox Confirms U.S. Sent Money To Iran After Hostages Were Released
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hv09zeG2Yg

        • NFB

          “First, the “US” didn’t pay a dime. This was money that always Iran’s, sitting in an account that we froze decades ago. They were going to get it back eventually. ”

          Mr. Summers,

          They have their minds made up. Please don’t confuse them with the facts.

          • Peter Robbins

            Yeah, Barry, you . . . Mom always liked you best!

          • Lulz

            LOL, LOL, LOL. We owe Iran nothing. We gave them the means to destruction on top of the ability to buy modern military hardware. Please don’t confuse yourself with lies like you can keep your doctor………….lulz. Democrat lies and one day someone else will die.

        • Lulz

          Really? Remember now, Iran is seeking nuclear capability for power generation. LOL, are you people so indoctrinated and stupid as to actually believe Iran is seeking peace? Are you that dumb? When you are merely nothing more than political hacks yourself, then you stop being anything more than dumb mindless tools.

        • janet

          If it wasn’t ransom money, then why did the plane with the money sit on the tarmac until the plane with hostages took off? See Wall St Journal. Furthermore, this is only the first payment of many to come…

          • bsummers

            Ransom: “money that is paid in order to free someone who has been captured or kidnapped”
            http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ransom

            Again, this was money that was always Iran’s, and this 35-year “Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal” process was going forward largely independently of anything else that was going on. When the first payment coming out of that process was ready to go, we said ‘not until you honor your commitment to release the Americans’. That’s called ‘leverage’, not ‘ransom’.

            This was their money, which they almost talked themselves out of getting back. The message that Iran and the rest of the world should take away from this is: If you hold Americans, you won’t get good things which are coming to you.

            That’s not at all the same as: If you grab some Americans, we’ll pay you lots of money.

            Unfortunately, that’s what the Obama-haters want the world to think just happened here. They’re willfully distorting what should be a positive step forward, into something ugly to splash around during the election season. If more Americans are endangered by this, it will be their fault.

          • NFB

            I guess it would have been OK if we just traded arms with Iran — you know like St. Ronnie did.

          • bsummers

            And the plane holding the 52 hostages left the tarmac in Iran, literally the moment Ronnie finished his inaugural address, so he could claim it happened on his watch. Interesting…

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