On March 3, incumbent Lisa Loftis and Republican challengers Jason Lambert and Josh Oliver will compete in the Republican primaries for the Swain County Board of Education. The candidates who receive the most votes will advance to the General Election, where they’ll face Democrats Brandy Monteith and Dannie Shuler in a bid for two seats currently held by Loftis and Republican Robert Taylor, who is not seeking reelection. 

Nineteen new small business recovery projects in Western North Carolina have been awarded grants totaling $13.8 million through the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Small Business Infrastructure Grant Program. 

Western North Carolina voters turned out in strong numbers across municipal races this year, deciding contests that will shape local recovery, infrastructure and growth for years to come. 

In Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, ballots featured a mix of incumbents and newcomers in competitive races that reflected both the challenges and the momentum of a region still rebuilding from repeated disasters — a region where voters think they’ve now chosen the right people to move it forward. 

Overwhelmingly, municipal officials take pride in their nonpartisan service, but once they’re elected, they don’t just leave their party hats at the chamber doors.

Bryson City voters participated in only one election this cycle, tasked with choosing two out of three candidates for alderman.

Three candidates — incumbents Tim Hines and Ben King, and newcomer W. Kent Maxey — are vying for two open seats on the Bryson City Board of Aldermen.  

Though aldermen serve four-year terms with odd-year staggered elections, Hines has only held the position since his appointment in April 2023 following Steve Augustine’s resignation. Nonetheless, Hines, who also works as a manager at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, said he’s learned a lot about the nuanced nature of town issues throughout his time in office.  

Marianna Black Library in Bryson City was an outdated facility by 2010, so staff commissioned a feasibility study. On Sept. 10, the library held a groundbreaking for its $7.1 million expansion and renovation, 15 years down the line.  

Kevin Seagle, chair of the Swain County board of commissioners, has given the county his resignation effective Aug. 31, according to Swain County Sheriff Brian Kirkland.

In the wake of the controversy surrounding former Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran, the new sheriff, Brian Kirkland, only a month and a half on the job, will have company on the ballot come 2026.  

Brian Kirkland, who served as interim sheriff in Swain County following the scandalous retirement of Curtis Cochran, has been appointed to serve out the rest of the current term.