WNC House of Representatives primary results finalize fall battles

Asheville N.C. — Rep. Patrick McHenry lived to fight another day as he seeks his eighth term, smoothly subduing a challenge from five Republican opponents. When the dust settled he claimed over 70 percent of the vote in N.C.’s tenth congressional district. His closest competitor, the more moderate Gina Collias managed just 14 percent of the vote and the other four each got less than eight percent.

In Buncombe County’s southeast corner, including Black Mountain and most of Asheville, which makes up some of  the most liberal territory in McHenry’s district, Collias fared a bit better, claiming almost 21 percent of the vote compared to McHenry’s 61 percent.

McHenry has a Democratic opponent for the November election in David Wilson Brown of Gaston County.

Two-term incumbent Rep. Mark Meadows of district 11 also defeated his challenger, Chuck Archerd of Buncombe County. With neither candidate showing much sign of running an earnest primary campaign, Meadows took a little over 86 percent of the vote.

Three Democrats stood to challenge Meadows, and Phillip Price will receive the nomination. He is a small business owner who touts having lived and worked all over WNC. He received over 40 percent of the vote. Steve Woodsmall, a professor at Brevard College, finished second with 31 percent and D. Scott Donaldson, chief of staff at Pardee Hospital, claimed over 28 percent. In the Buncombe County portion of the district, the result was closer with less than a half a percentage point separating Price and Woodsmall.

In district 11 there is also a Libertarian candidate, Clifton B. Ingram.

Update: Also of interest to Asheville voters, City Council member Keith Young was given a shellacking in his out-of-district attempt at congress. He ran in Charlotte’s district 12 Democratic primary and achieved less than 6 percent of the vote, although he was the second vote-getter of four candidates. Incumbent Alma Adams won the race.

For more information on all the candidates, see Mountain Xpress’ 2018 primary voter guide.

For complete local results see the North Carolina State Board of Elections results page. See statewide results here. All results are unofficial until they can be certified by the state agency later this month.