The Buncombe County Board of Elections won’t officially certify the results until Friday, May 27, and the N.C. Board of Elections will issue its own certification Thursday, June 9. But even with those steps still to come, there’s plenty to learn from the unofficial results.
“Doug is victim-centered in his approach to administering justice and is the only candidate in the race who has made advocating on behalf of victims their life’s work.”
In preparation for the primary election of Tuesday, May 17, Xpress sent questions to all candidates in contested races representing Buncombe County voters. Responses from candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, N.C. General Assembly, Buncombe County-level races and Asheville City Council are all collected here.
“An officer’s failure to report a partner’s crimes should be a crime itself — to be criminally punished and require permanent forfeiture of an officer’s certification.”
“Now we have seen release of body-cam footage, strictly illegal under state law absent judicial review. What was the aim? To embarrass current Asheville Police Chief Tammy Hooper.”
“A letter in the May 2 edition credited the present district attorney with hiring the first black assistant DA. This is not accurate.”
With the hard-fought primary now behind them, some Buncombe County candidates can breathe a sigh of relief, while for others the hard work is only beginning.
“We would very well-served with him continuing on because as our county grows, we can be confident we have someone who is practiced, accomplished and has our back and best interests at heart.”
“I believe that, like Todd, Quentin has the experience, integrity and vision we need.”
“Both of these men have shown a commitment to all our great people. Both have shown they are not afraid to speak up and bring much-needed change to our criminal justice system.”
“Todd Williams considers the circumstances of each crime, rather than reflexively pushing for the harshest possible punishment. He supports a new program that will keep nonviolent, first-time offenders out of jail with the offer of a chance to get their life back on track.”
“He is promising to end mass incarceration in Buncombe County by ending cash bail and ceasing to prosecute nonviolent drug offenses.”
If this year’s primary race for Buncombe County district attorney seems a bit familiar, that could be because it’s happened before. After then-defense attorney Todd Williams upset six-term officeholder Ron Moore in the 2014 Democratic primary (with no Republicans or Libertarians competing), Ben Scales collected nearly 8,000 signatures to get on the general election ballot […]
In preparation for the May primary, Xpress sent questions to candidates fighting for their party’s nomination for various local and national offices. Read their responses here.
The Buncombe County District Attorney is looking to give opioid offenders treatment rather than jail time via a new diversion program.
