news August 10-16, 2022
Edwards will debate only once during NC-11 contest
Chuck Edwards speaks during a Republican Primary Forum in Macon County earlier this year. Cory Vaillancourt photo
BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR ith just over 90 days remaining until November’s General Election, Republican nominee and state Sen. Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson) announced last week that he’d agree to only one joint candidate appearance for the entirety of the campaign, despite attending approximately a dozen Primary Election forums earlier this year and calling out those who did not. Edwards’ financial relationship with the host of that lone joint candidate appearance raises questions about the event’s provenance and legitimacy. “As a scheduling reality, Senator Edwards will only be able to participate in one joint candidate debate or forum and therefore will not be able to attend on August 31 and September 1,” said Aubrey Woodard, campaign manager for Edwards, via email on July 28. Woodard’s message came after weeks of planning and discussions between the 6 Edwards campaign as well as those of his
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opponents, Democrat Jasmine Beach-Ferrara and Libertarian David Coatney, in regard to an upcoming forum hosted by two of the largest independent media outlets in the district — The Smoky Mountain News and Blue Ridge Public Radio. Beach-Ferrara and Coatney have both confirmed their attendance at the forum, for which details will be announced next week. “Chuck Edwards is in hiding and it is clear why,” said Beach-Ferrara in a press release issued on Aug. 3. “His extremism is not in line with the values of Western North Carolina.” Beach-Ferrara repeated the assertion during an Aug. 3 rally in Pack Square Park. “You know you are winning, up and down the ballot, when your opponent would rather hide than show up to debate you,” she said. “So let me go on record as saying I will meet Chuck Edwards anywhere, anytime for a debate.” Libertarian Coatney agreed with BeachFerrara in a statement on Twitter that accompanied a meme of Edwards as a character
from Monty Python’s Holy Grail — “Brave Sir Robin,” a cowardly knight who was known for bravely running away from battle. “How can we trust [Edwards] to ‘show up’ for WNC in Congress if he can’t be bothered to show up for debates?” Coatney said. “The people have had enough with entitled politicians that don’t bother to show up. WNC deserves better!” The last part of Coatney’s statement is an apparent dig at current Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-Henderson), who was one of the most absent members of the U.S. House and set a limit of two joint candidate appearances during the spring Republican Primary Election contest that featured eight candidates and approximately a dozen forums across the district. Once Cawthorn fulfilled his pledge of two appearances, other candidates including Edwards, called him out on Twitter for his absence. “Thank you, Transylvania and Buncombe GOP, for hosting the #NC11 debate last night,” Edwards wrote on April 12. “I want to com-
mend 6 of my fellow candidates for understanding that half of any job is just showing up. Those of us who were there care enough about the future of WNC to do just that.” Edwards’ tweet included a photograph of Cawthorn’s empty chair at the event. Considered the frontrunner at that time, Cawthorn lost to Edwards on May 17 by 1,319 votes out of more than 88,000 cast, good for a margin of 1.5%. No runoff was needed. Michele Woodhouse, former NC-11 GOP chair and a candidate in that race, said she’d heard Edwards regularly make similar remarks about “showing up” throughout the Primary Election campaign. “Sen. Edwards said it at every forum that Rep. Cawthorn was not at,” Woodhouse said. She also voiced concern about the impact Edwards’ absence would have on constituents. “All three of those candidates owe it to the voters of Western North Carolina to make themselves available at each and every forum as they try to earn the votes,” Woodhouse said. “It’s a job interview and you can’t choose
