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Wild finish in 11th Congressional District BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER ast fall, few people expected to be devoting so much time, energy and money to two Primary Election races in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District. But then on Dec. 19 popular four-term Republican Rep. Mark Meadows, RAsheville, stunned much of the country by announcing he wouldn’t seek re-election just hours after an impassioned defense of President Donald Trump on the House floor during Trump’s impeachment proceedings. Meadows’ announcement set off a scramble for Republican and Democratic candidates, who were given next to no time to contemplate running and filing for the seat thought to be safely in Meadows’ control despite a gerrymandering ruling that halved GOP advantage in the district.
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With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Davis had more than 47 percent of the vote, enough to avoid a runoff. He credits teamwork and a lot of volunteers for the victory.
“Tonight is actually the 15-week point from when we first started, and everyone else had a significant time advantage. We had 4,452 individual contributions and that
REPUBLICANS RESPOND
DEMOCRATS SELECT
March 4-10, 2020
A NEWCOMER The five-way Democratic primary featured two familiar faces — Phillip Price, and Steve Woodsmall, both of whom ran in 2018. Price took that nomination but lost to Meadows by 20 points. Price and Woodsmall were joined by Mills River native Michael O’Shea and Asheville resident Moe Davis. Davis, a retired Air Force colonel, held a commanding lead over all of the other candidates when early voting results were released, and never really looked back. “The argument I’ve made all along is that I have the record, the reach and resources to compete in November,” said Davis. “Folks did their due diligence and came to same conclusion. The bottom line is, we’ve got to win this seat, and this is our best shot at winning.”
that enabled us to do advertising, and things the other candidates weren’t able to do, which helped us overcome their advantage of time.” Davis said it was now time to take a breather and then buckle down for the eightmonth campaign leading up to the General Election against whomever the Republicans choose as their nominee. Davis says there’s no one in particular he’s looking to face. “Not really. I’ve had the opportunity at forums over the past few months to have seen all 11 Republicans,” Davis said. “The first sentence out of everyone’s mouth is ‘I’m a loyal supporter of Trump and his policies.’ They are all carbon copies of each other.”
11TH CONGRESS GOP Lynda Bennett Madison Cawthorn Jim Davis Dan Driscoll Wayne King
Haywood 2,132 1,094 1,932 735 210
Jackson 775 336 1,197 282 110
Macon 1,269 423 2,996 402 99
Haywood 4,053 1,533 1,042 727 613
Jackson 2,419 1,130 917 570 470
Macon 1,634 603 493 245 357
Swain 208 68 406 104 30
Total 20,279 18,110 17,081 7,662 7,776 • 298 of 304 precincts reporting • six other candidates also were on the ballot
Democratic Moe Davis Gina Collias Phillip Price Michael O’Shea Steve Woodsmall
Swain 576 326 190 119 107
Total 52,388 25,024 12,453 12,351 8,307 • 298 of 304 precincts reporting
Haywood County Republican Lynda Bennett’s been under fire since her campaign began — for the way it began and for the sham endorsement she received from a two-day-old “conservative ballot committee,” but voters didn’t seem to mind that at all; Bennett led a large field of Republicans with 22.73 percent of the vote. Coming in a close second was 24-year-old Madison Cawthorn, a Henderson County Republican who’s emerged as the surprise star of the Republican field. Cawthorn garnered just enough votes to slip past Sen. Jim Davis, long considered a frontrunner in the race. At 20.43 percent, Cawthorn appears to be headed to a runoff because it didn’t meet the 30 percent threshold. Jim Davis came in with 19.25 percent of the vote, about 1,100 behind Cawthorn. He was trailed by Buncombe County businessman Chuck Archerd, and former Meadows advisor Wayne King. The General Election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Smoky Mountain News
Wingate wins GOP judicial primary
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BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER nce Judge Richard K. Walker announced he wouldn’t seek re-election, four Republicans from three of the seven counties in the 30th Judicial District jumped into the race. Two of them are from Haywood Cherokee Clay County, the dis1,646 502 trict’s largest coun- Jim Moore Kaleb Wingate 1,333 307 ty, giving them an Mitchell Brewer 913 403 advantage populaRich Cassady 983 361 tion-wise, so the results of the race shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Attorney Mitch Brewer — from Clay County, the smallest county in the race — finished fourth. Rich Cassady, an attorney from Macon County, finished third. Both were far behind Jim Moore, an attorney from Haywood County who finished in second, but voters chose
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the youngest, least experienced candidate to proceed on to the General Election in November. Kaleb Wingate was able to avoid a runoff and defeat his opponents with nearly 39.6 percent of the vote and cited the quality — not quantity — of his experience as well as
30TH JUDICIAL GOP Graham 698 446 100 75
Haywood 2,264 4,022 43 349
Jackson 1,376 1.090 285 332
Macon 1,572 1,901 364 1,438
Swain 417 315 98 124
Total 8,189 9,700 2,606 3,662
his character as reasons for victory. “I think integrity is a very important thing when it comes to judicial election, being true to who you are as a person and your political affiliation,” said Wingate. “I think being born and raised in WNC had a tremendous impact on this election and I’m so very grateful to have this support
from our seven counties. I will always remember how I got to this position.” Candidates had engaged in some digs at each other — some veiled and some not — but in the end Wingate thinks it was a professional campaign all around. “Overall, it was a very clean campaign. All my opponents are passionate and hard working, and it was about as clean a race we could have with all the energy we have for our positions and values. I have a lot of respect for them and I look forward to working with them for the rest of my legal career.” Wingate will now look forward to facing a Democrat, Bryson City attorney Justin Greene, in November. “I think my experience as a prosecutor sets me apart from Mr. Green. I have my fair share of experience in court, trying hundreds if not thousands of cases,” Wingate said. “You have so much responsibility as an assistant district attorney, and it’s important to have that experience on the bench. I have nothing bad to say about Mr. Green, but I think my experience will set me apart.”
