Archived News

Clampitt and Queen to face off once more in November for state house seat

election timeAfter taking home 59 percent of the vote in last week’s election, Mike Clampitt, R-Bryson City, is looking toward a November contest against incumbent Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, for the N.C. House District 119 seat.

“I believe that maintaining the House majority will be an asset in my race, to have an effective representative for Jackson, Swain and Haywood counties,” Clampitt said. 

According to Clampitt, Queen has been “very ineffective” during his two terms in the House because, as a Democrat in a Republican-run legislature, he’s found little support for legislation he’s wanted passed. 

Queen, meanwhile, said it’s time for a wholesale change in state leadership, and voters are ready to make that happen. 

“I think the choices are clear for North Carolina,” Queen said. “We can continue with obstructionism and trickle down or we can have the North Carolina we all grew up in — a progressive state moving forward with opportunity for all.”

It won’t be the first — or even the second — faceoff for Queen and Clampitt. The two first met in the 2012 General Election, and then again in 2014. Clampitt lost both times, garnering 48.3 percent to Queen’s 51.7 percent in 2012 and 47.4 percent to Queen’s 52.6 percent in 2014. Queen, an architect and businessman, is in his second term in the House, having previously served three terms in the Senate. 

Related Items

Clampitt is counting on the high turnout expected with the presidential election to bolster his poll numbers come November. 

But Aaron Littlefield, R-Cullowhee, who had been Clampitt’s opponent in this primary election and in 2014, feels Clampitt should do some thinking about his message as well. 

“I think my message of Raleigh not necessarily prioritizing Western North Carolina resonated,” Littlefield said. “ I think that if Mr. Clampitt plans to secure the people that opted not to vote for him in the primary, it would be wise of him to see which part of our message resonated and incorporate that into his message.”

If voters feel like the ballot gives them no choice outside the status quo, Littlefield said, they may just vote for president and leave the House contest blank. 

Littlefield and Clampitt are certainly about as different as two candidates of the same party can get. Clampitt is a 61-year-old Bryson City native and sixth-generation mountaineer who retired 11 years ago from a career with Charlotte’s fire department. He largely agrees with how the Republican-led legislature has run. Littlefield, meanwhile, is a 23-year-old graduate of Western Carolina University who calls Jackson County home. He substitute teaches in its public schools but grew up in Concord and has taken some positions outside of the typical Republican platform. 

Littlefield said he hasn’t ruled out a 2018 run, though any decision would come later and be made jointly with his wife, as elections place the whole family under scrutiny. In the meantime, he plans to stay active in local politics and support Clampitt’s candidacy in November.

 

 

Republican primary, N.C. House 119

Entire district

Mike Clampitt 59.2 percent

Aaron Littlefield 40.9 percent

Ballots cast 6,670

Jackson

Mike Clampitt 54.8 percent

Aaron Littlefield 45.2 percent

Swain

Mike Clampitt 71.8 percent

Aaron Littlefield 28.3 percent

Haywood

Mike Clampitt 58.8 percent

Aaron Littlefield 41.2 percent

Clampitt will run against Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, to represent Jackson, Swain and part of Haywood County as the N.C. House 119 representative.

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.