One county commissioner defended his seat while another appears to be unseated in a narrow defeat, according to the unofficial results from the March 5 primary election.
Macon County Board of Commissioners District 3 challenger Barry Breeden got 3,319 votes to incumbent Paul Higdon’s 3,091, a difference of 228 votes, or 51.78% to 48.22%.
Higdon, chair of the county commissioners in 2023, has been the District 3 representative for the last three terms since the 2012 Election.
In the District 2 race, Josh Young is headed for a second term after getting 3,935 votes compared to challenger Chris Browning’s 2,511, a difference of 61.05% to 38.95%.
Both county commissioner races were in the Republican primary. No candidates from any other parties signed up for those races, meaning the Republican primary winners will be unopposed on the November general election ballot. The winners will be sworn in for a four-year term in December.
“I wanted to give a sincere ‘thank you’ to Macon County,” Young wrote on Facebook. “I'm so excited to have the opportunity to keep working for our small community. All the love, support and trust shown over the past few weeks has been so humbling to see. Thank you again.”
The totals include early votes, absentee by mail votes, and most Election Day votes from Tuesday, March 5. According to Macon County Elections Director Melanie Thibault, there were 40 provisional ballots to be considered. According to new state law, the county elections official must receive all absentee ballots by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. Candidates can only request a recount if the difference in votes is under one percentage point, which no local race appears to be.
All North Carolina primary election results are unofficial until the Macon County Board of Elections conducts Canvass at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 15.
District 2
The District 2 commissioners’ race saw Young take 13 of the 15 precincts, and Browning won Nantahala and Flats. Young won by similar margins in early voting (1,712 to 1,034) and on Election Day (2,185 to 1,450), also winning absentee-by-mail voting 38 to 27.
District 3
In the District 3 commissioners’ race, Breeden carried nine of the 15 precincts, winning in Burningtown, Cowee, Millshoal, Iotla, Union, Smithbridge, North Franklin, East Franklin and South Franklin. Higdon won in Highlands, Sugarfork, Elijay, Flats, Cartoogechaye and Nantahala.
Most of Breeden’s winning margin came in early voting, as he got 1,493 compared to Higdon’s 1,234. Election Day votes were within the margin of the 40 provisional ballots to be counted, with Higdon having 1,815 and Breeden with 1,803. Absentee-by-mail votes were in Higdon’s favor 42 to 23.
District judge race
In the only other local race for N.C. District Court Judge District 43, Seat 7, Virginia Hornsby of Franklin appears to have defeated Andy Buckner of Sylva by a 13,618 to 12,193 margin (52.76% to 47.24%). District Court District 43 includes Haywood, Jackson, Swain, Graham, Cherokee, Clay and Macon counties. Macon County carried Hornsby, as she won her home county 3,686 to 1,862 while the other six counties were close. No one from any other party filed for this race, meaning Hornsby will be uncontested in the November general election.
National and state races
For U.S. House, incumbent Chuck Edwards of Henderson County handily defeated primary challenger Christian Reagan of Clay County with 68.92% of the vote for N.C. District 11. Macon County went along with all the other WNC counties, voting 65.55% in favor of the freshman Congressional representative.
In statewide races, Macon County voted 74.67% for Donald Trump on the Republican primary ballot for U.S. President and 87.32% for Joe Biden on the Democratic U.S. President primary ballot (who ran unopposed).
The governor’s race in November will see Democrat Josh Stein against Republican Mark Robinson with Libertarian Mike Ross also on the ballot.
A couple of down-ballot statewide races appear headed for a May 14 second primary as no single candidate got to the state-mandated 30% threshold. These races are the Republican primaries for State Auditor and Lieutenant Governor. In these races, the top two vote-getters in the first primary will face off in the second primary, if one of those two candidates requests it.