Dear reader,
Through the years, you’ve told us you depend on our local election coverage and voter guides to make informed decisions. You pore over candidates’ responses to questions that reflect local concerns and you mark the pages to use as a reference when completing your ballot.
You’ve also let us know how to make our voter guides better: Rather than spacing the content over multiple issues, print all the races together in one convenient package — and make it available by the start of early voting and through Election Day, as well as online.
This year, the stakes feel even higher than usual. With the contest for Asheville City Council taking place for the first time alongside a presidential election, the risk of local issues getting lost in the shuffle has grown. Add in a pandemic, misinformation spreading on social media and questions about the security and validity of election results — clearly, our independent and free local coverage is more important than ever before.
With that in mind, Xpress will produce the all-in-one guide readers have long requested, distributed in the print issue of Wednesday, Oct. 14, the day before early voting begins in Buncombe County. The guide will also be available online the same day.
But to produce that comprehensive guide and secure our ability to continue reporting through and beyond Election Day, we need your support. This year, we’ve been doubling down on our efforts, even as print advertising revenue has fallen almost 60% compared to last year.
As we scramble to cover the costs of this vital coverage, please pitch in to help us provide voters the information they need from a source they trust.
If we can raise $9,000 by Wednesday, Oct. 7, you’ll make it possible to distribute thousands of additional standalone voter guides to locations across Buncombe County from Oct. 14 through Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Nearly 1,000 readers have stepped up to support Mountain Xpress since the beginning of the year. Join them — or make an additional gift — at supportmountainx.com to ensure that everyone in our Western North Carolina community can access dependable, fact-based election information.
With gratitude,
The Mountain Xpress election coverage team
Previous Xpress coverage of the 2020 election season is available at the pages linked below:
- “COVID-19 campaigning divides local candidates along partisan lines” – Sept. 26, 2020
- “Buncombe County Election Services gears up for 2020 voting crunch” – Sept. 17, 2020
- “Henderson County protects Cawthorn after threats” – Sept. 9, 2020
- “Candidates for 11th Congressional District meet in first debates” – Sept. 7, 2020
- “Night two: Cawthorn and Davis debate in Cullowhee” (live blog) – Sept. 5, 2020
- “Video: Cawthorn, Davis debate Sept. 4” (live blog) – Sept. 4, 2020
- “Ripple effect: City Council appointment opens new political possibilities” – Sept. 4, 2020
- “WNC’s congressional seat may truly be in play this year” – Sept. 3, 2020
- “Nicole Townsend withdraws from Asheville City Council race” – Aug. 25, 2020
- “Cawthorn takes Republican nomination for NC-11 seat” – June 24, 2020
- “Record-breaking turnout makes Buncombe primary picks” – March 4, 2020
- “WNC primary elections 2020 live coverage” – March 3, 2020
- “Women gain power, but still short of parity” – Feb. 21, 2020
- “2020 Primary Voter Guide” – Feb. 12, 2020
- “Hot seat: City Council candidates stake positions at forum” – Feb. 7, 2020
- “Unaffiliated candidates face challenging path to ballot” – Jan. 10, 2020
- “Slates set for March 3 primary” – Jan. 3, 2020
- “How districting changes could play out in WNC” – Dec. 28, 2019
- “2020 election campaigns already stirring in WNC” – June 14, 2019
Yes, and thank you for your election coverage.
Let’s also make sure that the public KNOWS that even though this race is on the ballot, one does NOT have to vote in this race, nor any
other, especially if the voter is ignorant about the candidates. In Asheville, it is the simple matter of NO qualified candidates running
who deserve election! None of them are qualified. Avoid the race.