“From day one, our campaign has been about bringing people together to the table to respond to the urgency of this moment in people's lives here in Western North Carolina — the issues that are facing families, whether it's the opioid crisis or rising prices and the crunch of meeting your bills every month,” Beach-Ferrara said. “Part of it is about that and part of it is that we are rooted in values of love and hope and how we move forward together.”

Beach-Ferrara’s impressive total — more than 59% of the vote — wasn’t much of a surprise, as she’s been the perceived frontrunner in the race since she announced her candidacy in April, 2021.

Small business owner Katie Dean finished a distant second, with 26%. The other four candidates, Jay Carey, Bo Hess, Bynum Lunsford and Marco Gutierrez, weren’t able to accumulate even 15% between them.

The victory by Beach-Ferrara sets up a November matchup with the Republican nominee, Henderson County Republican Sen. Chuck Edwards, who defeated incumbent Madison Cawthorn by 1.5%.