Reporting by Lisa Allen, Thomas Calder, Greg Parlier and Justin McGuire
Nov. 5 was a big day for Republicans on the national level, with former President Donald Trump defeating Vice President Kamala Harris to earn a return to the White House and the GOP capturing the Senate. But on the state level, Democrats won the races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction.
Democrats also did well in Buncombe County and Asheville, winning more than 20 seats on the state, county and municipal levels. But local Republicans had reason to celebrate as well. U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards easily defended his District 11 seat, earning nearly 57% of the vote against challenger Caleb Rudow. And state Sen. Warren Daniel, District 46, cruised to reelection.
As for voter turnout, despite coming out of the gate strong with a high number of early voters, the overall total — 74% of registered voters in Buncombe County — closely mirrored 2016’s 71% and 2020’s 78%.
Unofficial results show that 159,778 people voted, down from the 162,137 people who voted in 2020 but up from the 140,014 who turned out in 2016.
How people have voted over the previous decade varied by election. In 2016, early in-person voting captured 72% of the votes, compared with 65% in 2020 and 54% this year. Absentee by mail soared in 2020 to 22% but fell to 5% in 2024. It was 4% in 2016.
Election Day voting comprised 20% of votes in 2024, 12% in 2020 and 23% in 2016.
Below are a few key additional takeaways from the 2024 general election.
Money didn’t pay off
In at least two local races, the candidates who raised the most money didn’t end up victorious.
In the race for chair of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, Amanda Edwards, Democrat, raised $73,160 as of her third-quarter report posted Oct. 27. Her opponent, Van Duncan, unaffiliated, raised $128,145 as of his second-quarter report filed July 2. His third-quarter report was unavailable on both the county and state election websites. However, on election night, Duncan told Xpress he had raised over $190,000.
Despite the differences in fundraising, Edwards garnered 61% of the vote, compared with Duncan’s 39%.
In the race for three open seats on the Asheville City Council, the top fundraiser, Tod Leaven, came in fifth of six candidates. According to pre-election reports filed at the end of October, Leaven raised $48,069, compared with top vote-getter Sage Turner, who raised $8,500. Rounding out the race, second-place finisher Kim Roney raised $8,951; the third-spot winner Roberto “Bo” Hess raised $15,000. Candidate Kevan Frazier, who placed fourth, raised $22,261, and Charles “CJ” Domingo, who placed sixth, raised $2,151.
Democrats and allies sweep local school board races
After a contentious school year rife with conversations about politically divisive culture war topics and Republican-led redistricting, observers weren’t sure what to expect on election night in races for the Buncombe County Schools Board of Education.
In the end, registered Democrats and those supported by the Buncombe County Association of Educators (BCAE) swept all four seats on the county school board.
Before the results came in, BCAE president Shanna Peele told Xpress she was most concerned about the race for District 2 on the Buncombe County Schools board. She worried the three candidates for that seat would split the vote, narrowing the margins for the BCAE-endorsed Democrat Greg Cheatham, who is a former teacher and current firefighter. In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, Peele noted, Cheatham had limited time to campaign because of his professional involvement in recovery efforts.
In the end, Cheatham won the closest race for a board seat, earning nearly 39% of the vote. Nancy Hargrove, who is unaffiliated and also a former teacher, came in second with just over 31% of the vote. Republican Sara Disher Ratliff finished with a little over 29% of the vote.
Voters rejected both Disher Ratliff and Jim Fulton, who both had endorsed Republican Michele Morrow for N.C. superintendent of public instruction, who lost to Democrat Mo Green. Morrow faced criticism for comments wishing physical harm to national-level Democrats such as Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Fulton lost to former Republican Amy Churchill, an incumbent who left the Republican Party after she was allegedly assaulted at a GOP town hall last summer by current Buncombe County GOP Chair Doug Brown. BCAE had endorsed Churchill in the race.
Voters also elected Democratic newcomer Charles Martin, who became the first Black member of the county school board with his victory over Republican Glenda Weinert, who was appointed this summer to fill the position vacated by Amanda Simpkins.
Current chair and Democrat Ann Franklin also secured victory over Republican Greg Parks, despite not earning an endorsement from BCAE.
On the Asheville City Board of Education, all four candidates on the ballot earned endorsements from the Buncombe County Democratic Party. Pepi Acebo secured the most votes to join incumbent Jesse Warren and current Chair George Sieburg to complete the board, which is now represented entirely by elected candidates for the first time. The city board held its first elections in 2022 after previously being fully appointed by Asheville City Council.
Warren won despite not receiving an endorsement from the Asheville City Association of Educators, which instead threw its support behind William Young, who finished fourth in the race for three seats.
Incumbents reigned supreme
In both races for Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and Asheville City Council, incumbency was rewarding.
Council members Turner and Roney, who were both first elected in 2020, earned the top votes in this year’s three-seat race. Turner received 27,678 votes; Roney received 25,404. Hess, a first-time Council candidate, took the third seat with 23,890 votes.
Meanwhile, the three commissioners, all Democrats, seeking reelection topped their opponents. Terri Wells won District 2 with 54% of the overall vote, defeating Bruce O’Connell. Parker Sloan, representing District 3, earned 100% of the votes in his uncontested race.
And, as previously noted, Amanda Edwards, who currently represents District 3, beat former Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan, in the race for chair. Edwards will replace Brownie Newman, who served eight years in the position.
According to Kathie Kline, chair of the Buncombe County Democratic Party, “We will be having Democrats in [Edwards’] district attend a special meeting to elect her replacement sometime next month.”
On Nov. 5, Edwards spoke with Xpress after her race was called. She said she was honored to be the first woman elected as chair of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners. “The voters were looking for a commissioner that could hit the ground running even more, post-Helene,” she said. “I think in that way the storm affected this election.”
Post-Helene impact?
“There’s a reason that incumbents win more than 90% of the time and it’s not because they’re universally loved,” Chris Cooper, Western University Carolina political science professor, told Asheville Watchdog in October. “Incumbents have name recognition, a proven electoral playbook and, of course, the advantages they are afforded by the office itself.”
That was certainly the case in the latest contest for U.S. House District 11, where Republican incumbent Chuck Edwards of Hendersonville defeated N.C. House Rep. Caleb Rudow of Asheville.
The district encompasses 17 counties — with Buncombe being the lone blue county in an otherwise sea of red.
Along with the benefits of incumbency, Edwards’ response to Tropical Storm Helene may have also played a factor in his reelection. In the storm’s aftermath, Edwards said he was suspending his campaigning to focus on helping Western North Carolina residents. Early on in the recovery, he sent out regular updates to constituents, including a press release debunking numerous conspiracies and rumors about the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) response to Helene. He also participated in multiple press conferences that featured a number of prominent Republican officials, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, and then-candidate, now President-elect Donald Trump.
It’s unlikely, however, that Edwards’ response to Helene was the determining factor in his victory. From the start, Rudow was considered a long shot in the heavily Republican district. Ultimately, Edwards received 57% of the vote, earning nearly 60,000 more votes than Rudow.
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