Election day was a historic day for the North Carolina Democrats. They won some significant races, flipped the North Carolina House, and have majority of the congressional delegation in Washington D.C.
“There are Provisionals to count, recounts to be had, and (hopefully not but probably) a lawsuit or two. But those are the leaders as of now. If this holds, it will be the Democrats largest share of the delegation since the 1988 election and their largest number of seats in at least 50 years,” wrote Chris Cooper in his analysis.
He also added that in the North Carolina General Assembly Democrats would gain 21 seats in the House and four seats in the Senate making it the biggest Democratic gain in the House since at least 1992 and the biggest gain in the Senate since 2018. The Democrats would control the House with 70 seats, just two short of a veto-proof supermajority, and would be one seat away from a 25–25 tie in the Senate (where Democratic Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt could break ties).
Democrats won every contested county-wide race in Jackson County on Tuesday, flipping the control of the Board of Commissioners.
Jackson County results
Democratic candidate Casey Walawender won Jackson County Board of Commissioners District 01 seat with 8,897 ballots or 55.81% while Republican candidate Steven J. Sutton still got 7,046 (44.19%) votes.
Jackson County Board of Commissioners District 02 winner is Democratic candidate Sean Bridgers with 9,192 ballots (57.69%). The incumbent, Republican John W. Smith fell behind with 6,745 ballots (42.32%).
Marcia Almond won the Jackson County Board of Commissioners Chairman seat with 8,998 ballots (56.39%) while Republican David J. Rogers lost with 6,958 ballots (43.61%).
North Carolina’s Clerks of Superior Court are elected officials who serve four‑year terms and must reside in the county they serve. Their responsibilities include probate and estate administration, handling special proceedings like adoptions and foreclosures, record‑keeping for Superior and District Courts, and managing court fees, fines, and financial disbursements.
Democrat Kim Coggins Poteet has won re-election as the Jackson County clerk of Superior Court with 9,519 ballots (59.68%). Rollie L. James came up short with 6,430 ballots (40.32%).
Sheriff Doug Farmer (R) and the county Register of Deeds, Shandra Sims (D), were on the ballot unopposed and will remain in their office.
Ashley Welch of the Republican Party ran unopposed in the District Attorney District 43 race and will return to the post.
In the nonpartisan race for the District 5 seat on the Board of Education, Amanda Woods (7,111 votes, 64%) bested Sandy Jennings (3,945 votes, 35 %). Board of Education incumbents Abigail Clayton (11,155 votes, 97%) and Kim Moore (9,339 votes, 81%) ran unopposed. There were several write-in votes in the school board races.
For the two seats for Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor candidates voters chose Lisa Kelly (7,052 votes, 32%) and the current supervisor John Wittekind (6,159 votes, 28%) on the board. The pair finished ahead of Doug Parker, (5,969 votes, 27%) and David Ivey (2,751 votes, 12%). That race was also nonpartisan.
State and federal results
In the race for N.C. State Senate 50, Cullowhee Democrat Tom Downing lost to incumbent Kevin Corbin, 58% to 42%. Downing did win in Jackson, with 55% but this was not enough to win the district.
Democrat Mark Burrows (52%) from Transylvania County is the new North Carolina House representative for District 119 defeating Anna Ferguson (48%). Jackson voters favored Burrows 55% to 45%.
In the race for District 11 of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrat Jamie Ager (57%) defeated Republican Jennifer Balkcom (41%). Jackson favored Ager 59% to 40 %.
Former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper (59%), defeated the GOP’s Michael Whatley with 2,467,963, while Whatley came in at less 1,643,088 votes (39%) or about 825,000 votes short in the U.S. Senate race. In Jackson, Cooper won 57-40 %.
There were four district court judge seats on the ballot, but all the candidates – Democrats Roy Wijewickrama, Justin Greene and Bill Jones and Republican Donna Forga – were unopposed and will return to the bench.
Voters decided four judicial races at the state level.
In the Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 1 race, Anita Earls of the Democratic Party defeated the GOP’s Sarah Stevens 59-41 percent.
Democrat John Arrowood defeated Republican Michael Byrne. In Jackson, he won 57% to 43% for Court of Appeals Judge Seat 1.
For North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Seat 2, Democrat Toby Hampson defeated Republican George Cooper Bell and Democrat Christine Walcyzyk bested the GOP’s Craig Collin for the Court of Appeals Judge Seat 3.
Election night
Jackson county saw a good turnout of voters in early voting as so was the case on Election day. The Director of JCBOE, Amanda Allen said for The Sylva Herald that they had high turnout of voters.
“It went really well, and yesterday we were incredibly busy,” Allen said. “We had lines at all of our sites multiple times during the day. We saw really high election day numbers. Our voters were positive and energized. That was really awesome to see.”
The new voting site at WCU Human and Health Science Building was busy all day with many students showing up and waiting in line to cast votes of which many were provisional.
Marcia Almond who was campaigning in front of the HHS commented on common sentiments that a majority of the voters, republican and democrat alike, that she had spoken with on election day had communicated to her.
“Trump’s term started off with increases in gas prices, grocery prices, cost of living, etc. They still haven’t gone down since the armed conflict with Iran. That’s the glaring issue here; not the taxes,” Almond said. “In fact, Jackson County has one of the lowest property tax rates in the state, ranking #1 in North Carolina for effective tax rate and among the lowest in the U.S.”
Jackson County native Kayla Godfrey commented on her second time voting in the Jackson County General Election.
“I’ve noticed that there a lot more people present this year than 2024,” Godfrey said. “I think that’s because this is a much more polarizing political climate, especially with issues of representation and disparities with the LGBTQ+ community and minority voters with a majority republican vote in most counties in North Carolina, including ours.”
The results on Election Day are unofficial, and there will still be changes to the count in various contests across the state over the next 10 days, leading up to the county canvas on Nov. 13. Contests may also go through a recount process as part of the canvas or afterwards.
Citizens are encouraged to be engaged in monitoring and observing these important processes, which are conducted by county boards in meetings open to the public.
