Update: Four more candidates have filed for Asheville elections: Richard Liston, 2013 mayoral candidate John Miall, Holly Shriner and Dee Williams. And Rachel Halbert Allen filed for Black Mountain Alderman. By Thursday afternoon, 12 candidates had officially thrown their hats into the ring for the Asheville City Council elections this fall. In the surrounding Buncombe communities, an additional 20 candidates […]
As the municipal election on Tuesday, Nov. 5 draws near, time is running out for Asheville voters to decide who they want to be the city’s next mayor. The two candidates vying for the job are current Vice Mayor and lawyer Esther Manheimer and former City Risk Management director John Miall. Today, Saturday, Nov. 2 is the last day to vote early. (Caricatures by Randy Molton)
With all precincts reporting, Asheville Vice Mayor Esther Manheimer emerged from the mayoral primary with a strong lead, racking up 60 percent of the vote. Former city risk manager John Miall was runner-up with 25 percent of the vote, and will go on to face Manheimer in the Nov. 5 general election. The third candidate, community activist Martin Ramsey, gathered 14 percent of the vote.
An hour before the sun is expected to rise over the mountains in Asheville, N.C., the polls will open at 6:30 a.m. for city voters to cast their ballots in the mayoral primary today, Tuesday, Oct. 8. Polling sites will remain open until 7:30 p.m. (Photo by Max Cooper)
The stages and the supporters could not have been more different for the Asheville Mayoral candidates yesterday: A power lunch at Magnolia’s Bar & Grille sponsored by the more conservative Council of Independent Business Owners and an evening forum at the Odyssey Ceramic Arts Studio hosted by the multimodal-minded group Asheville On Bikes. (Photos by Max Cooper)
Today has no shortage of debates about local government and the future of our city. The three mayoral candidates meet at the Council of Independent Business Owners luncheon this afternoon, then have a rematch at tonight’s Get There Asheville forum, where they will be joined by the five Asheville City Council candidates. Follow live Twitter dispatches of today’s debates here.
While some people leaned forward in their seats, others stood in the back of the room and craned their necks — ear first — to hear the positions Asheville’s three mayoral candidates have on issues ranging from the police department to school systems. Full audio of the forum is included.
When community activist Martin Ramsey joined Vice Mayor Esther Manheimer and former city official John Miall this July in the mayoral race, he forced a primary in the City of Asheville election. Now, the early voting polls are open in order to narrow the field of three candidates to two. (Photo by Caitlin Byrd)
Voicing different ideas about funding the Asheville Art Museum, adopting the living wage ordinance and deciding downtown development, the trio of political candidates vying to be Asheville’s next mayor debated with one another for the first time on Wednesday while also revealing a shared consensus among them about the perceived relationship between the General Assembly and the City of Asheville. (Photos by Max Cooper)
At the end of her State of the City address tonight, Mayor Terry Bellamy announced she won’t seek re-election, instead running for Rep. Patrick McHenry’s 10th district congressional seat once again in 2014. Photo by Max Cooper.
Though voting began at 6:30 a.m. and ended at 7:30 p.m. in North Carolina, Election Day 2012 was about so much more than those hours when voters could cast their ballots. This Storify post looks at the local photos, video and tweets from the time the polls opened on Nov. 6, 2012 to well after the time that they closed. (Photo by Max Cooper)
The Buncombe County candidates running for seats in N.C. House districts 115 and 116 faced off at a Sept. 27 forum organized by the Council of Independent Business Owners. Candidates were asked a range of questions, giving them a chance to show where they stood on issues like Asheville’s water system, jobs, education and more. Roughly 75 people attended the forum. Here’s a look at the event in words, photos and videos as it unfolded, via Storify. (photo by Max Cooper)
If you’re not sure which voting district you belong to anymore, chances are you’re not alone. But a new online webpage (released by Buncombe County GIS and the Office of Election Services) hopes to help voters find the information they need to get to the polls.
Equality NC kicked off its efforts to defeat Amendment One — which would ban legal recognition of same-sex relationships — with staffer Jen Jones running through downtown as part of the statewide Race to the Ballot campaign. The newly opened Asheville office will be the organization’s headquarters for organizing in the Western part of the state.
(Photo by Bill Rhodes)
A flier funded by local businessman Chris Peterson and bearing a mocking, photoshopped picture of Asheville City Council member Cecil Bothwell, encouraging voters to back Council member Jan Davis and candidate Mark Cates has led to a condemnation by an advocacy group and public criticism. Davis has released a statement asserting he is unhappy with his inclusion in the flier, noting, “I do not believe in trickery and dirty campaigning.” Cates, meanwhile, has released a statement saying he understands’ Peterson’s view.
In the latest installment of our ongoing series of interviews with Asheville City Council candidates, Caitlin Byrd talks to TJ Thomasson about issues ranging from affordable housing to LGBT rights.
Caitlin Byrd interviews Asheville City Council candidate Marc Hunt on issues facing the city.
In this, the first of an ongoing series, Caitlin Byrd interviews Asheville City Council candidate Saul Chase on issues facing the city. Xpress will run an interview with a different candidate every day this week. UPDATED with audio.
Asheville City Council member Bill Russell has withdrawn from the race. Russell, in a statement released on the Scrutiny Hooligans political blog, wrote that “there would be no greater regret for me than if I was not there fully for my kids with my time and energy as they move through these most important years of their lives.”
Hello, Xpress readers, nine candidates are vying for three seats on Asheville City Council this year, and we’re developing our annual election guide questionnaire. What questions do you want the candidates to answer?
Sure, Council elections aren’t partisan, but there are many Democrats in Asheville, and five of the nine candidates vying for City Council seats made their pitches last night, Aug. 2, at a Young Democrats meet-and-greet. The event was the first of the campaign season to get multiple candidates at the same event.
